faderift | [Closed] Kingdom by the Sea

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[Closed] Kingdom by the Sea

WHO: Asher Hardie, Cullen Rutherford, Korrin Ataash, Malcolm Reynolds, Meoni Kost
WHAT: Red Templars have been harassing merchant ships, and the Inquisition has hired a team to take them down.
WHEN: June/Justinian the 12th
WHERE: A network of caves near the Storm Coast.
NOTES: Canon-typical violence, and a torture room towards the end. Recruitment post with details! I'll post a series of comments with details for each movement that players can reply to.

In the mouth of the strait that leads to Lake Calenhad through a river, a group of Red Templars have staked their claim. On one side lies the cliff and a cave--at low tide all ten feet of the cave can be seen, but at high tide only four can be seen. With armor and weapons, it's impossible to swim through. During low tide, there are visible rocks that make a path into the cave, but they are mossy and treacherous. Boat carnage bobs slowly with the tide, thunking against the stone and making even more noise than the ocean itself. A rowboat, wide enough to fit ten people, is tied to a steak someone hammered into a crack in the cliff.

The other side is less a cliff, more a tall and rocky hill where the Red Templar watch waits. Past it, away from the cliff there are tall pine trees and boulders. Still, there's an uphill run and some distance between the templar watch camp and the cover.

[OOC: Tagging order is Cullen-->Malcolm-->Korrin-->Asher]

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It's been too long since Cullen has been out of sight of Skyhold. Sometimes he forgets what it's like, boots on the ground, while he stands at his desk. He doesn't want to forget. He's seem troop commanders who always kept themselves far behind the front lines. They lose touch. They forget what it's like, in the thick of things. Their edges end up dulled until they become completely useless. That won't be him.

So, when the request for help comes to the Avdisors, and Red Templars feature heavily in the danger, he takes it on himself. Small team, easy to get there quickly, perfect for a precision strike. Just three others with him, but strong players every one. A Knight Enchanter unafraid to get her hands dirty, with as much hate for these perversions as Cullen himself has. Wayward soldier who has proven himself brave and loyal and who thinks well under pressure, not to mention the Mabari that comes along with him. Throw in a Reaver recommended strongly by the other two, and Cullen likes his chances. Well, like is a strong word. Cullen feels that they have a real shot at getting in and out without anyone on their side dying. That's good enough.

When they see the small group of Red Templars, Cullen makes sure everyone is ready, and then leads them around and up the hill to box the enemy in against the water. A pause while they still have cover, whispered voices hidden by the wind. "Is everyone ready?" he asks, sword in hand.

"I still say-" Mal mutters under his breath. "We shoulda come down the coast on a boat and shoot from there."

Less actual bitch'n, more idle commentary. If he don't have somth'n to complain about, he ain't happy, and work'n on land is a fair sight better than try'n to predict the mess that is the Storm Coast's swells and tides. Even when he's got cause to sail this way, he don't make berth here. S'ask'n for trouble. Here? Less trouble. Jayne's up and rear'n to go for once, he's got an arrow loosely knocked and a bow ready in his hands. It'll be good for the first shot but then? They'll have to come in hard. "Whatcha think, Kor? Val Chevine or Kokari flank?"

Quick shorthand for tactics that...don't take the Commander into account. "...Maybe a Starkhaven swing instead."

After physically entering the Fade, Korrin has been left with a powerful urge to hit things, and fighting rift demons isn't enough. She needs something to help put her in the right mindset again, a victory against a foe that isn't demonic and trying to mess with her head. Red Templars are refreshingly straightforward, if dangerous. But Korrin doesn't mind danger if it means they have a genuine chance to wipe out their influence in this area.

Having Mal and Asher at her side is like old times, and she smirks while glancing their way, hoping they have another tale to laugh about by the fire later. Asher in particular has worried her, given his slow recovery, but the fact that he's on his feet and was cleared to fight is reassuring. And Cullen...she doesn't know him well on a personal level, but the fact that he's here in the thick of things instead of back at Skyhold speaks well of him. She pats Jayne, then glances over to Mal, shaking her head at the first suggestions, as they only work as a trio. "The last one." Then she concentrates to cast a Barrier spell while everyone's close enough to be caught in it. "Ready."

After what feels like an age of recovery from a job with his own crew, sucking down fire when a smuggling job in Gwaren turned out to involve a mage that didn't want to go anywhere, something their employer said nothing about, a mage that soon went abomination and rushed Asher? It feels good to be back in the action again. His body is as healed as it'll get, new scars hidden beneath the armour, the flesh still pink and new in places but there's an itch under his skin he assumes every Reaver must get.

Korrin and Mal are with him too so he's smiling, sticking closer to them because well, how many times have the three of them done this? Usually with their crews but they're the ringleaders, the three that throw themselves into mad things and Korrin got sucked into the Fade and Mal rode off to Weisshaupt.

(Asher is allowed to worry.)

"Feels like just yesterday you got done telling me about the last time you did a Val Chevin and how that all went tits up pretty fast. Course I wasn't there so we can't be surprised," he's teasing of course, giving Mal a nudge with the haft of his axe though his eyes are firmly ahead. "Going to have to agree with Ataash, Starkhaven swing all the way, sorry darlin'." But he smiles again, to be a shit because it's Mal, and he whistles quietly through his teeth for his scarred mabari Bronson.

It's probably rude on multiple levels to be thick as thieves like this in front of the commander of Skyhold's forces using the names of all their old strategies but well, ask three mercenaries to come along and what do you expect. He feels the barrier settling over everyone, closing his eyes as he starts drawing deep, feeling every little ache or pain, and the dragon blood he downed all those years ago, gripping his greataxe tighter.

Honestly, as long as they remember that he's there, so that his back isn't totally undefended, he doesn't care if he can't follow their conversation. He asked them to come along expecting them to work well together, so obviously that's a win.

He isn't taking Mal seriously at all, because what good would a sword and battle ax be from a boat? None. The man's not stupid, so obviously he knows that, so he's complaining just to complain. If it makes him happy, Cullen doesn't care. "We have the element of surprise, which means we have the option of making this relatively quiet. We also have the wind. If we hit hard, before they realize what's happening, we can force them back. To the water. A full suit of armour is heavy enough to weigh down a grown man. We don't know what's waiting in the cave, and I'd like to face it on our terms. Get them in the water as quickly and quietly as possible. If the Starkhaven swing is well suited for that... have at it."

He takes a few quick shallow breaths, and glances down at the two four-legged members of the group. "Reynolds, if you're hanging back, send Jayne." He doesn't actually say that he has the distinct impression that the dog is the most likely to remember that Cullen is part of the group, but he does have to wonder... "As soon as Thud makes it back to the fire, move." There is really only one enemy anyone could assign that name to, and they have zero hope of getting him up the hill if he doesn't walk it himself.

"Look that was Kirkwall and we were in the alienage, yeah? Close quarters. Here we got more ground." More ground to cover, more ground to mind. But the Starkhaven Swing'll work pretty well. "Just don't get in the way of my arrows, pookie. I'd hate t'shoot ya."

Even if it'd help him with his weird reaverness- Minding Asher's flank'll be easier from a distance. Least until they need him to swing in and catch the scragglers.

"Jayne, attention au lion." The Mabari's ears flick up as he gives Mal a considering look, one that's answered with a cant of Mal's head at Cullen. Yes, Cullen's the lion, Korrin's the storm, Asher's the honeybadger. It's easier than telling him to 'mind the pretty one', especially since that worked out so well in Weisshaupt. Apparently his dog has a broad sense of what's pretty.

Things he didn't need to know.

Thud makes his way up step by weary step and Mal brings his bow to bear, pulling back for a full draw. Counts off the time, the distance, angling his shot accordingly. When Thud's right near the edge of the fire's light- Mal counts off under his breath- more for Cullen's benefit. Man don't know them or how they fight, ain't fair to leave him in the dark. "Trois, deux...last one to two kills pays for ale after- un."

He fires.

"Got it. No explosions this time." Quickly and quietly...well. Korrin can promise the former, though the latter isn't her forte. Her entire fighting style is geared towards being loud and obnoxious and drawing attention to her, the better to take it off others. The Commander does have a point, though, and she'll at least make an effort to manage it. Still, magic aside, Asher is probably the one he'll have to worry about when it comes to sheer volume.

She darts a grin at Asher, glad to see him upright and joking...and agreeing with her, of course. Bronson will get attention later, though now she wants to make a move before Barrier wears off for the others and they might not all be in range for another casting. As Mal counts down, Korrin gets ready, staff and spirit blade hilt in hand. She smirks. "Alright, get ready to pay up." And as soon as he fires, she blurs forward on waves of magic. It's time to do her part, and she'll start off by making sure she's angled just right, then summoning a boulder from the Fade to send the nearest target flying back towards the water.

Before they get going, he presses his wrist under Bronson's nose where his hound can smell him and the kaddis painted there because there's no missing the blind eye and though he's in danger in a fight, it never hurts to remind the dog exactly where he is and who he's with. "Don't shoot my dog either, remember he's got a blind side," Asher mutters but there's no heat in it, Mal has a dog, he knows and loves Bronson but Red Templars don't sit well with any of them because they're the sort of thing that was human but isn't quite now. Asher's dog will always flank Asher, herding things closer to him as needed, helping out whoever else is on the field with them though and if Jayne is going with Cullen, Asher's pretty sure Bronson will be minding Korrin if she has to focus on casting a spell.

"Once we're in close they'll get drawn to me." Unsure of how much Cullen actually knows about Reaver fighting, he looks back, clicking his tongue once to hold his own mabari's attention. "It's a Reaver thing; the air'll change, even things twisted up like that can pick up on it. Whatever they throw at me, I can take it." And so long as their attention stays on one thing then that gives them a very distinct advantage.

Big as he is, Asher moves quickly, having been on enough jobs where stealth has paid off, and on enough raids when he's been back at the hold. He can feel it when Korrin's magic hits the enemy, giving his axe a swing as the smile that earned him one of his nicknames creeps across his face.

"Hello lads, who's first?"

These three are obviously comfortable with one another, so while Cullen doesn't hesitate, he does split his focus between the rush up the rest of the hill, and watching how they move together. If Asher wants the brunt of the attack, Cullen isn't going to argue with him. He learned long ago, you can plan and plan and do all you can to control every last detail, but when the blade meets the bone, you have to just trust the people with you. Dogs, too, actually. The appeal for these three, at least part of it, is the fight itself. He doesn't fully comprehend why, but he doesn't need to. He can take clean up duty.

The arrow distracts the largest of the group, leaves him scrabbling at the protruding shaft, full of rage. It's a quiet rage, though. The one that just took a boulder to the chest? He's the loud kind of angry. He's also been moved more than halfway to the water. That's where Cullen focuses, strikes quick and precise, hoping to get him submerged before he feels drawn to Asher, drawn back away from the water.

"Not gonna shoot your bear of a dog, Ash." Though he is a might tempted to put an arrow in Asher's ass for that sass. Only slightly tempted. Still when the first arrow's loosed a second's on the way, then a third, then a forth, Mal picking a clean line of targets to give the brawlers a bit of cover. Keep'n to his word Jayne sticks to Cullen, charging in low to attack shins and groin where the Templar swings high. Herd'n them, that he knows, and he melds seamlessly into Cullen's strikes- staggering the blighted bastard to keep him off balance as they herd him to the water.

Six, seven arrows in and oh look, someone figured out where they were coming from. Mal lines up and fires his eighth shot before tossing his bow aside, pulling up his spear, and bracing himself for an uphill charge.

There is definitely appeal in the fight itself, both as a chance to show off with friends, and smash in those deformed monstrosities that the Red Templars have become. Remembering the faces of the villagers they had enslaved in Sahrnia, those left to die of exposure in cages because of the Red Templar's plans, Korrin's gaze hardens. The more eliminated, the less likely it is that anyone else will have to suffer under them.

But she doesn't throw herself into the battle so much that she loses focus of their goal. The bellow from her target gets a mocking smirk out of Korrin, who sees that Cullen and Jayne have that one well in hand and turns to the larger, arrow-struck Templar. While he's grabbing at that shaft, she'll summon a lightning bolt to strike him before closing in with her spirit blade, her swings relentless.

One advantage to having skin that'll bleed easily and to still carrying the aches and pains from his last job is that he'll fight better quicker. Bronson snaps at legs same as Jayne to keep the Templars from getting too far from where they want them to be, used to working in a larger group than this where he herds stragglers back in, daring foes to try to take a swing at him if they can; all too often it'll lead them into the path of someone else. No one's told him if Red Templars think the same way as people, how fast their minds start to rot. (They have to. Everyone heard stories about Kirkwall, especially if they used to live there like he did for a time.)

A blow lands over his hip, cutting into the armour he wears, all fur and leather because why wear something heavy when the whole point is to let them hurt you. He grins, presses the heel of his hand into it as he takes a breath before charging, his axe cutting into the thigh as the Templar goes down. Blood sprays over his face that he turns to avoid since no, he doesn't fancy getting involved in Red Templar business beyond this, but it cuts short the howl of pain though not in time for more eyes to be on him as he gears up for a whirlwind once he steps over the twitching corpse.

At the edge of the water, Jayne darts around behind Cullen's opponent, bites at the back of his knee, and then crouches down low, meaty chest nearly touching the ground. Cullen takes the hint, and with one low blow to that same knee to further destabilize him, uses the momentum of the strike to drive his foot into the sternum, sending what was once a man toppling over the hound behind him and into the water. Cullen finds himself smiling at the dog. Smart doesn't begin to cover it.

Turning to survey the fight, he sees Korrin and Asher occupied in close combat, and Mal running up the hill. Running up a hill is difficult enough, but forcing a fight up a hill is brutal. Asher will draw the fight to him, so really they just need the attention off of Mal. He nods his head and talks to Jayne. "Get his attention back up here." The conversation feels perfectly natural. The fact that Jayne responds doesn't surprise him in the least. He won't reach the Templar at a run, but he picks a large stone up off the ground and lands a direct hit to the back of a helmet, knowing from personal experience how disorienting the echoing metallic ring is.

Smarter than he looks- and even for a Mabari? Jayne may be lazy but his eyes are bright and sharp as anything. Already following cues he slips in where he's urged with a quiet whuff. Right now he's in work mode. Food and complaining mode come later- but there's shit what needs biting and allies that need covering. He knows how to get through this scrap. Soon as the rock hits home Jayne slams into the templar from the side, staggering him even as he clamps on with thick jaws around one crunchy bicep.

Mal's just about up the hill when the rock's thrown- it gives him that much more time to head up, plant a foot, and hurl the damn spear to finish the bell run bastard. At this distance and angle, it ain't a problem. Through and through, hits him dead center.

Korrin's target is tougher than anticipated, even wounded, and she has a few narrow-misses as it swings at her in an attempt to crush the Vashoth woman. Between that barrier of hers and the distraction of a spirit blade cutting into it, the attempts don't seem that successful. Well, at least until it lands a powerful blow, sending her flying back.

Korrin winces as she strikes the ground, but she's on her feet again in a moment. This will ache later, but now is the only time that matters. Renewing that barrier -for herself and anyone else nearby- she then steps forward to cast Stonefist again, once she's sure to be at an angle that will push him into the water. Punching people with boulders will never get old.

"Ataash!" The call is for Bronson the instant Asher sees her go down even if it's just for a second, and his hound is on the move to sink his jaws into the leg of foe. Bronson was a fighting dog before he was Asher's, he doesn't know fear, he knows clamping on and winning, ripping and tearing even if he's a big soft lump beneath the surface. Korrin can spoil him with treats later if she wants as the hound finishes off what her spell has done most of.

A quick check to confirm where everyone is and then Asher spins, his grip on his weapon solid. The blows will be glancing at best at first, but it exposes the backs of their targets to everyone else, means Asher picks up more hurts to fuel himself and draws from the pain and fear from the people he's hurting too. Some wounds go deep though it feels weird hitting these Templars, where the flesh doesn't feel like flesh, sounding wrong but he'll complain about it later, fininishing his spin by hacking off an arm at the elbow. The resulting howl is music to his ears.

Mal's through and through shot is perfectly aimed, and freezes his target effectively, letting Cullen get a clean strike in at the neck, taking off his head. He was probably already dead. Certainly fatally wounded. It's just insurance. Ounce of prevention and pound of cure, sort of. More or less. It also avoids the possible death cry.

Which Asher makes a non-issue only moments later. Well, at least that's all four taken care of. The one herded to the water with Jayne, the one run through and decapitated, the one smashed into the water with a boulder (which, he must admit, looks really freaking cool) and Bronson, and finally Asher's spinning top of death. If they're lucky, the noise won't have carried inside the cave.

He waits for a bit of stillness to return before looking to the three figures still standing. "Everyone unharmed?" Then he glances to Asher. Maybe the wrong wording. "Able to continue?" Better.

Looks like none of them got to two this round- and that he can have such an offhand thought so easily is a good sign. Means things are still go'n smooth, that no one's too hurt and nothing's gone sideways all of yet. He jogs up to fetch his spear, crouching down to scratch Jayne's ears for a reward. A little bit of jerky keeps him from nosing about the templar corpses.

Bad stuff, that red lyrium. Regular stuff makes Mal's nose itch, always ends up causn'n no end of trouble. The red stuff don't much seem like it'd be any less. "We're good, Commander. Asher, you breath'n fine?"

Fretting. Small frets, but that cough...seems to be gone. Mostly. Sooner he's sure, the better.

"Such a good boy, Bronson. Thank you." Korrin leans down to pet Bronson fondly, naturally glad for the assist. She'll definitely spoil him later, but for now there's still more work to be done. So, she nods over to Cullen, straightening.

"I'm good to go. And Mal, you know he'd never admit it if he wasn't." But she glances over to Asher, too, just to see for herself that he doing alright. As long as he's not staggering around and spitting up blood or something along those lines, then she'll give him space and the area one last good glance-around before following the Commander.

"All good Commander, no complaints!" Mal and Korrin know just how rare it is that Asher bothers with rank - it's a sign of respect right there as Bronson heads back over to his master after being petted, allowing the merc to lean against him.

"I will slap the mouths of your faces the pair of you," Asher grumps, but he suspects it'd be more effective if he weren't saying it after a coughing fit but he's covered in blood anyway so how are they going to know what blood belongs to him and what blood belongs to the enemy? They won't, he's fine, he can breathe. "Just need to wash some of this crap off."

Seriously, if he wasn't keep on lyrium before any of this on account of how odd Templars seemed then he definitely didn't want any of the red stuff on him longer than was needed so he made his way to the water, complaining under his breath the whole time as he quietly washed the worst of it off.

Cullen doesn't have much gore on him, but he still wets a cloth absently with a little water, wiping it off of his face and ignoring his armour. His own relationship with lyrium is complicated. He doesn't want it anywhere near him in general.

When he walks past Asher, he offers the cloth. It's still mostly clean. If everyone is fine, they shouldn't waste time. He pokes his head into the cavern, listening intently, and then motions the others forward. Time to take out the next batch.

[[OOC: I thought we were good to keep going in the next thread. Hopefully this is a more acceptable chapter end? If not, or if you guys want more conversation beforehand, feel free to ignore it and keep on tagging in this one.]]

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[Closed] Kingdom by the Sea

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Originally posted by aintwejust

Originally posted by gatheringstorm

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