faderift | What Can One Grey Warden Do?

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What Can One Grey Warden Do?

WHO: Hercules, Jamie, Kain, Rachette, Alistair, Kaidan, Bethany, Dorian, Anders, and Nathaniel.
WHAT: The ambush and capture of Lord Livius Erimond
WHEN: Drakonis 4
WHERE: The Western Approach
NOTES: Info on this post. Feel free to start your own mingle threads for the journey there and back. Warning for violence.

It doesn't really rain here. The skies are blue and the sun is glaring, the sands shifting only when a merciful breeze blazes through, which isn't often. It's hardest on Team D, which has no shade or shelter. The other two teams are tucked away in the shadows, impossible to see as Erimond's party enters the gorge.

They had seen the demons from afar, Nathaniel peering through a spyglass. There are eight of them, each bound to a mage, and Nathaniel has chosen to continue with the plan, though he has urged everyone not to try to fight, only to push through with the plan as-is and get out. They are all very much outnumbered, but all they need to do is take one man.

So stay hydrated and move quickly, team. Anything can happen in the next few minutes.

[OOC: I will tag into each team thread as the action reaches each team. Feel free to mingle on team threads before then and react to the action in other threads. Also, please start your own threads for travel mingling, if you want that sort of thing. This will keep everything organized for everyone's AC purposes.]

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He watches the enemy closely the whole time... He didn't think it would take long before the battle erupted. Though he knows the most important objective here is to keep them occupied in any way they can, draw this out for as long as possible. He stays still and silent as he watches the mages start to advance and then as they first hit the traps. Only then does he speak up, after Rachette.

"What's the matter? Made a misstep?" He can't help but add the mockery.

Kain's also ready, glancing at the others to be sure of likewise... he'll spring forth to attack the moment they all do.

One of these years, Jamie really needs to ask someone what the deal is with this whole teeth business. Being baffled over something isn't exactly a new thing for him, however, and he opts to just roll with it for now, grinning unpleasantly at the mages as he shifts his grip on his weapon. Like the others, he's wearing a rag-tag collection of armor, but he's been especially careful to make sure that the tell-tale glowing green of his shard has been covered as well. He's not sure what sort of reaction that would bring, and the last thing he wants them to do is cotton on to what's going on too soon and bail.

Given their reaction to the traps, though, he's starting to wonder if they're not considering doing that anyway, but if they can goad them into a fight maybe they'll decide to stick around. Accordingly, when the others start taunting, he sneers - and shifts forward and over to the side, letting them get a better look at the derisive expression on his face. If it looks like they're going to bolt, he's ready to move in an attempt to cut them off properly, but otherwise, like Kain, he's ready and waiting on the signal to attack. Should that come, he's ready to jump in wherever he needs to.

"Come on, then!" Herc yells as the first onslaught falls to the traps. He didn't miss Rachette's look, earlier - this is going to be tough - but this is what they do, what he does. They fight against stupid odds, sometimes, and he did whatever he had to in order to keep his people safe. And keeping people safe is part of this whole equation, isn't it? Why they're out here getting sunstroke, and why the Grey Wardens even exist at all. Things have gotten twisted up along the way, though. He never thought he'd be raising a blade against his fellow Wardens.

The first Warden he meets earns a facefull of shield, knocking hard into his jaw and knocking him unconscious. He'd sooner that then killing them, but not everything can go so idealistically as that. His foot meets the gut of another, two charging him at once as he batters into the front line, and Striker Eureka meets flesh and bone.

"We can strip 'em bare after," he roars, an order for when all is done, determined to keep this convincing. He even holds back from letting flame dance along his blade, just in case someone has heard of his sword, gets suspicious. This has to work. They have to cover the others - and if they can take down that smarmy little shit, well. He'll be all the happier for it.

The taunting alone made Erimond briefly suspicious. Then, Hercules gave his order. Erimond scoffs. Clearly, these bandits don't see what they are up against.

Three of the mages step forward, not quite so far as to trigger the next set of traps. They have learned. One sends lightning straight for Herc while the other two begin to cast area-wide fire spells. Nobody seems to regard the two fallen mages save for the demons who were bound to them. They, along with three others, move toward the team--two rage demons, one terror, and two wraiths. The wraiths keep their distance, flinging spells at the dummies. The fear demon vanishes under a pool of green magic; the rage demons float toward Jamie and Rachette, hunched and ready for battle.

To be honest, she hadn't expected Herc to just jump right in and start sweeping the floor with mages. Maybe she should start expecting Wardens to do crazy shit like that.

She knows very little about magic. No point in it, as a dwarf. Everyone involved needs lyrium, which the Carta is willing to smuggle out of the mines for their own profit, and she knows she's got a leg up in some natural resistance. The demons are new...but she's fought some darkspawn before, and they were just as ugly.

Maybe they'll be just as easy to take down. (No. Keep busy. They're not necessarily here to kill everyone. Focus.) The one that vanished concerns her, but they've got gooey lava demons coming at them, and she doesn't hesitate to dash by, rogueish lightness to her feet, and go for a cut to its side, angling behind it to dive both blades into its back. Hopefully the rifter knows how to hold his own.

When it comes to fighting mages, there are a couple of things that are universal no matter what world you’re in. One is that spells are nasty and often times explosive, so Kain knows to watch out and keep on guard when the fire spells start to get flung around. The other is that mages are weak to physical attacks… that is, if you can get close enough to take them on. Time to start doing that.

Taking care not to do anything weird and draw suspicion, he avoids using any of his specialized dragoon abilities for once. For all intents and purposes, he’s a warrior class fighter at the moment. Not that this is a problem at all, he can definitely hold his own in regular ground combat. So, Kain quickly picks a target and then charges in toward the nearest mage with his weapon slicing through the air toward them. He’s a fierce combatant, not holding back anything as he starts stabbing his way into the midst of the battle. He can definitely keep this up for as long as they need to… and in a way he’s looked forward to finally getting to go up against an enemy like this.

It's a small comfort that the wraiths are currently distracted by the dummies, because the last thing they need right now are those extra ranged attacks brought into the mix. Having to deal with two rage demons and a terror demon along with the mages is plenty, as far as Jamie's concerned. Especially once the terror demon vanishes. He's had more than enough experience with them by now to know that it's going to pop up wherever and whenever it pleases, and all he can really do there is hope it that decides not to pop up under his feet while he's going toe to toe with the Rage demon.

Those he doesn't have quite as much experience with, but he's helped fight a few, enough to wish that he could somehow manage to generate some sort of frost on his sword, like the ice "sword" he'd wound up fighting with when he'd first fallen through the rift. He's no mage, though, and knows he'll have to rely on his wits to fight the rage demon, and do his best to keep from getting hit by it until he's able to take it down and go to help Rachette with hers.

Luckily, he's used to dodging to avoid blows, and while he's not the largest man out there, being a little smaller means he's a little quicker on his feet as well. So he concentrates on his footing, circling around the rage demon before closing and striking with as much force as he can muster, aiming more for the head and neck area. If he can land enough blows there, eventually it should be enough to take it down - hopefully without getting too many blows landed on him in the process.

Edited 2016-03-01 16:41 (UTC)

Demons. Fantastic. Least it seems like he's in good company, people who know what they're doing, though he's doing his best to keep an eye open for all of them. He'd sorely love to just cut a path through to Erimon and skewer the bastard, but fights are never that simple, especially not when there are mages and demons brought into the mix. He's not certain there was anything that could've prepared him for that - for Warden mages bound to demons, no matter what he was told.

Nothing like a bolt of lightning to wake you up. Rebellion helps with fire just fine, but lightning is another story. His shield might not have helped anyway, with the way the spell arcs and strikes his back, sending Herc's back rigid. His arms shake with with the force of the current running through him, he can feel it burning his skin, and it makes his jaw lock. The shock can't change that he's still a stubborn ass of a man, and so he twists, skin reddened from the heat of the desert and the lightning, and so he twists through the pain and treats the offending mage to a armour clad punch knee to the groin and nose-breaking strike of his pommel.

Maker, but he hated fighting mages. Situations like this, with demons and getting struck with lightning? Well, they were a reminder why so many people in Thedas were scared witless of mages, and why Circles might have seemed like a good solution for so long.

Still, there's Jamie, and there's a rage demon, and Herc twists from his mage situation to deliver a couple of hacking blows to the damn thing. They can't get too thinned out or split up, and trying to get all the demons focused on him so the others can concentrate on dealing out hits, rather than avoiding them, yelling at the demons and turning to strike out at the others. Might not work, but damn it if he isn't going to try his best. Even better if it means they can get to Erimond faster.

Rachette drives both blades home into the rage demon. The heat from the demon is painful to her hands, but there are no blisters. The demon is taken off-guard by the ferocity of her attack and bends over briefly, then gathers itself and swipes at her with a fierce, fiery blow of its arm--a blow easily evaded, if she tries.

Kain crosses the line of traps, setting off one, which sends shrapnel flying. Fortunately, the trap was aimed toward the oncoming enemy; only one small shard hits Kain himself in the outer leg, biting deep and lodging. The mages, however, are completely taken aback by the fierceness of his attack. They stumble back from his attack. One trips and falls to the ground. Another is lanced completely through the heart, looks briefly surprised, and is dead before Kain pulls his lance out of his chest. The next mage Kain strikes at is impaled through the throat and dies twitching. The wound in Kain's leg, however, is bleeding badly and hindering muscle movement.

Jamie lands a solid blow to the demon's neck. At the same time, the demon rakes at him with both hands, scoring him across the neck and chest. Blisters are raised on Jamie's throat, but his chest is protected by his armor.

Herc, while a little slowed from the shock of lightning, manages to pierce deep into the burning flesh of the demon, which slumps to the ground and goes still, its glow fading to coal blackness.

But one of the terror demons appears now out of a pool of Veil-green light beneath one of the dummies. It rips the thing apart, then begins smashing down all fortifications it can reach. The mages are bolstered by this sight, and one sets a string of fire glyphs along the path in front of them, between them and the advancing Kain. They glow for an instant before fading to near-invisibility.

Another pool of green light appears, this one beneath Herc's feet.

She's focused on her own one-on-one enemy, though tries to make sure she's watching her surroundings. There are, after all, a fuckload of enemies now that there are demons alongside mages. Even the heat, though painful, doesn't bother her enough to stop, just enough for her to pull her blades once they've done the job and rolls aside to avoid the incoming blow before hacking at said offending arm when she's back on her feet. Tries to get it between both blades to slice it through, although she isn't sure if that'll be effective on something made of magic fire.

Worth a shot.

"Maneuver!" Jamie seems to be attacking from the front, which, well, maybe Hercules could do it, but rifters are just different. "Keep moving!" Easy for a rogue to say.

He figures the more dead mages the better, the less of them to summon up more demons. That was the idea anyway. Trying to avoid the traps, Kain growls when the stray shrapnel hits him. He's got no choice but to fall back as those glyphs appear soon after, his instincts telling him the kind of danger they pose.

He grabs a healing potion and downs it as he moves, already much slower than before on that leg. The potion at least helps some, dulls the edge off the pain... but it's a temporary solution to stay on his feet. Of course, he's cursing the fact he couldn't have just jumped high above like he normally would to avoid that trap entirely- but the risk of doing something suspicious is too great.

He goes on the defensive for a bit, aiming his attacks toward the nearest demon next.

Rachette is welcome to think what she likes about rifters being different, but Jamie is fully confident that he can get in one shot from the front before moving again...right up to the point where the demon lashes out and a line of fire springs into being across his neck. It pulls out the first sound from him that he's made since the whole charade began - a cry of pain that's drowned out somewhat by the other sounds of combat.

His neck feels like it's on fire - because it kind of is - but he presses on anyway, jumping back from the demon to get out of its reach, but moving at the same time to attack it from another angle. Herc's blow takes it out before he needs to engage again, but it puts him into a position to see the green light appear under the other man's feet. That can't possibly be anything good, and he opens his mouth to call out a warning.

What comes out is more a sound of warning than a word, a combination of the role he's trying to play and the lingering pain on his neck, but he's close enough to Herc that the Warden might be able to hear him and react in time - especially since he's clearly tensing and bringing his sword up as he moves back enough that if something comes springing up out of that circle he'll be in a place where he can engage while avoiding any of the other dangers that seem to have sprung up on the battlefield.

Kain's hit, bleeding, still going. Jamie's burned across his throat, Rachette's seems to be doing better than all of them, but that's dwarves for you - tough as nails. As for him, he's had better days. Faster ones, at least, and the weakness in his muscles from the lightning is just enough to make doing what he needs to more difficult than it should be. At least this rage demon is a smoldering mess.

You're better than this, Warden.

"You heard the lady!" Rachette's right, they've gotta keep the advance, keep moving, not get bogged down and turn into easy targets. Easier said than done, because he hasn't noticed the green glow beneath him, and his jerk to look Jamie's way is one of concern, of Maker, did something get him? without necessarily getting quite what the yell was for straight away.

When it does register, he goes to move - who knows if he's moving in time, though, with the way his limbs feel heavy and slow.

"Kain," he calls to Jamie (didn't think of giving everyone a stupid cover name for this nonsense, did he?), though just how possible that is is another matter. And whether that translates to we need to support Kain, which is what he was going for, that might just depend on how good at interpreting the many shades of urgent tones his comrades are.

Kain's next attack kills another rage demon, its light vanishing into grey ash.

Suddenly, a cry comes from the far end of the gorge. Mages and demons alike immediately redirect all fire in the opposite direction. The terror which appears out of the ground in Herc's just-barely-vacated spot is the only one which remains. It's a big one, too, tough and strong. It blocks Herc from the rest of the group, right at the time when they must flee. But if they linger, it's possible none of them will make it out. It's now or never.

Rachette's all right at following orders. Not great, mind, but all right. She was, after all, in the king's army. Technically speaking. And with a sharp glance to locate Kain, he's injured. Support. They aren't here to kill, though damn she'd love to loot some of these bodies. How inconvenient they need to go.

And with the shouting from the other end of the gorge, they need to leave sooner rather than later. That everyone (and thing) else starts heading off in that direction means the only support Kain really needs is that of a healer--

"Herc!" Her feet skitter to a halt in the sand, redirect with only a brief stumble. Together, then. Together they might be able to fight this thing down, and make a hasty escape. She doesn't wait for anyone else, aiming for the backs of what she assumes are the large terror's knees.

Seems the time to leave is fast approaching. Eyes narrowing, Kain watches the towering terror demon take form. Herc is in a bad position all the way over there, that much is clear. Can they stand a chance against this thing? Long enough to make their escape all together? He still has to remind himself this isn't the gods' war anymore... falling wouldn't be the same as there...

But he's stubborn and a warrior first and foremost. He's going to fight damn it, he has to do something. Push himself. Keep going. He tightens his grip on his lance, planning to try just that. If he can hold on long enough to reach it... just get one good strike in... Unfortunately, a wrong step aggravates his bad leg, and he howls in pain suddenly, dropping to a knee. Arrrgh, no! He grimaces, hating to admit that the wound is worse than he'd thought.

Herc still seems to be moving slowly, but he's moving, and that's something, at least - even if it doesn't do anything to cut down on the uneasiness Jamie's feeling at the sight of that spot. That part of things has him a little on edge, and when the order comes to go to help Kain, he almost doesn't go, instead flicking an uncertain look between the Warden and the green spot on the ground. However, there's enough urgency behind that one word that despite his misgivings, he goes, skirting the places where he remembers seeing those glowing lines as he darts across the battlefield towards Kain.

And then everything seems to happen at once. Erimond shouts, and the mages and demons respond, just as one of the largest terror demons he's ever seen springs into being and cuts off Herc from the others. Rachette's close enough that she can close with it, but Jamie is closer to Kain by now, and it makes more sense to close the smaller distance and get to the other warrior's side, hands reaching out to try and get him back to his feet. The dire nature of the situation isn't lost on him, however, and there's a level of urgency in his voice as he ignores the pain that flares across his throat as he turns head to look back at Herc and Rachette.

"Come on, we've got to go help them!"

Damn it. Herc glances back, takes in the regrouping mages and their demons, and the great terror looming in front of him. Not just looming, either, because the damn things could never make it that easy. "Rachette, go! You gotta go, now. Get Kain and Jamie outta here."

Now or never, isn't it? Time to do something really stupid.
Flame engulfs the blade of his sword and he whistles loudly, hacking at the side of the terror, moving backwards to lure it away from Rachette, from the others. "Come on, you ugly mongrel."

The thing swipes at him, and it'd be a lie to say he's doing as well as he would he if he hadn't been hit by that lightning spell, earlier. "Come on!" He yells at it again, and he's twisting to strike out at one of the mages as well, draw their fire to him so that the others can make a move. Better deal with the man with a burning sword right in their midst, than the rabble that can't do them any more damage, right?

"All of you, move out. That's an order." And he doesn't know if that'll mean much, if they'll listen, but he's trying to buy them some time to get away. He's been hearing the Calling for a long time, now, after all. He just figured he'd be dying at the hands of darkspawn, and not his fellow Wardens.

Warriors. And rogues. And hero-types in general, really. They all tend to have one thing in common - grand gestures when they might not be needed, and Anders is moving before the order is given, sliding down the hill but still staying out of reach because like void he's going anywhere near the thing.

He holds his staff while casting, hands and even arms glowing green as healing over a distance is not nearly as easy or refined as close-up. He can't fix everything Herc's got. Not from here, not with the short amount of time he has, but at least he can try to mitigate some of it. The crucial damage from the lightning, for instance.

And then the order comes and Anders is torn. It's the first clear order he's been given, and his very life hangs on showing that he'll obey Grey Warden orders. On the other hand, Herc's largely responsible for Anders getting a chance.

The others get a quick glance. If they start moving out, he'll follow. If they hold their ground, he's not moving just yet.

Now Anders, at least, is on Herc's side of the demon, which shows little interest in giving the fighters time to conference. It makes a swipe at Herc, which is easily dodged.

It's an order. Orders are bullshit, but--the plan has to go as, well, planned, or this whole thing is for nothing, and all the teams are fucked, and they'll all get slaughtered by demons or something. Or worse! Seems like 'worse' is definitely an option, given these mages and their demons.

She takes a roll back even though the demon is advancing on Herc, points at Jamie. "Get him out of here." Which she should also be doing. But she glares back at the scene with fire in her eyes. "Mage, move your ass!"

She's slowly backing up with her blades in a defensive position, scanning her feet for any more signs of green. Honestly, the healer's going to be useful for Kain right now while Herc is playing the big damn distracting hero. "You stupid load of nug shit, didn't come here just for you to die..."

Edited 2016-03-04 23:14 (UTC)

“I’m not out of this yet!” his voice is a growl, that defiant fighting attitude coming out full force. Reckless, definitely, when he can barely move as effectively as he needs to. Got to go help them, the words echo through his mind. Kain accepts Jamie's help up with a nod, gripping his arm for a moment as he attempts to steady himself. He’s still keeping an eye on the field the whole time of course, desperate to get back into action. The pain is still gnawing at him, and he’s doing all he can to adjust, putting more of his weight on the good leg as much as he can. Healing, though, definitely. He needs that if he can get within reach of their mage. Just enough to keep him on his feet a bit longer… Stubbornness can only take him so far.

Orders are one thing… when Herc gives that command it reminds him that they’ve got a specific duty to carry out here. But he glances at the others, readying his lance, fully preparing to attack and see this through if they are. One fighter can’t possibly take down this thing alone… if they leave Herc…

It's not until Kain grips his arm that he actually looks down at the other man's leg and gets a good idea of just how bad the injury is. He'd thought that maybe the man's leg had just buckled and once Jamie could help him up they'd be able to get back into the fight. With his leg like that, though, Jamie isn't at all sure the man'll be able to walk, let alone move like he'd need to while fighting the terror demon. Still, when Det- Anders appears over the hill, he almost reconsiders. If he can get Kain to Anders and Anders can heal him, they can then take on the demon and see about taking it down while it's still possible to do so.

Then the order comes to withdraw, and he too, is reminded of the plan. They're supposed to be going, or this whole thing is for nothing. He hates thinking about leaving, and if Kain wasn't as hurt as he was, Jamie would've already given into his impulses and already rushed the demon. But given the state of the other man combined with that order...well, he doesn't much like the idea, but it's enough to get him to listen. So he grimaces, clearly unhappy about the situation, but starts to withdraw as well.

Given that his attention is split between Kain and Herc with the demon, though, he's not keeping as quite of a close eye on the battlefield as he could. Whether that makes any difference given their path, he doesn't know, and if the others change their mind and start to run back in that may change things, too. But for now, he's going to try and get Kain to Anders before anything else goes wrong. so long as Kain is willing to go along with it. He just hopes that whatever long-distance healing Anders has managed to do on Herc is enough to get him back up to speed in the meantime.

If this was the time for it, he'd show Rachette some gratitude. As it is, he catches her gaze a moment, if he can, and offers a grim smile. Thanks.

As for the more stubborn members of the party:
"Anders, you get outta here or I'll kill you myself," Herc growls, even as he can feel his skin healing a little, and the next hack comes easier. He throws down to roll out of the Terror's swiping trajectory, but they're running out of time. One of the reasons Anders has his life is because of a promise Herc made to all of the Advisors, and he's not eager to follow through on that today. Not when the Wardens were losing enough as it was. Anders might be a bit of a pain in the arse, but he's their pain in the arse, and a decent healer to boot.

His voice is stern, and brooks no refusal. "It's now or never."

If this was the way the song in his head ended, well, there were definitely worse ways. Better that Max is guarding their camp and isn't here to see this. Mabari followed orders, but this was one a dog like Max'd have a hard time taking. And maybe, if he makes enough of a scene here, he can cover their retreat a while, as well. Maybe they don't get it because they aren't Wardens (well, some of them, anyway) but there's a song that's been drawing him to the Deep Roads for long months, and he was already due for that, Corypheus or no. In Death, Sacrifice, that was their deal. That was what he signed up for.

Clattering his sword against the shield and making as big a racket as he can, Hercules Hansen gets ready to buy everyone else some time.

Now or never. A glance around shows that it really is, and Anders grimaces. It's not even the threat, because Herc can't disengage enough to get to him and strike him down. It's the fact that he's leaving someone behind and he hates it. But as Justice confirms what Herc says and Anders already knows, the mage nods. The green glow isn't gone from him, but Herc is no longer the target of his healing. Instead, as he turns, it's Kain.

"We move."

He rushes toward Kain, hoping to get the other man's side so he and Jamie can get Kain away from here as he heals them.

"Can you cover us?" This is called to Rachette, because they're not going to be moving as fast as a demon can, plus they'll have their backs to it.

Stupid idiot hero types. He hates how easily they're willing to let the end come, sometimes.

What Can One Grey Warden Do?

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I like that I had this written up about three hours ago and forgot to post the damn comment :'|

It happens!

Just me and Herc from here on

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