Arcaea/Dining Hall Late 08-09/Kirstyn the Konfident
"Men!" she hissed, bumping along the road. "I can out-box, out-fight, out-drink, out-swear, out-...out-everything him, and still...had to beg and plead just to have a stupid archer troop."
She looked over her shoulder at the bowmen running to keep pace with her.
"And only to defend the city...can't even go fight!"
She kneed the flanks of the horse brusquely, causes it to surge forward.
"Well, we'll see about that," she said. "I'm seventeen now, after all."
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
"You found out the orders?" Kirstyn asked her sergeant quietly.
"Yes, m'lady. Chatted with one of the men from your brother's troop, while we were looting," he answered.
"Deathwyrm was looting?" she asked in amazement. "What did he take?"
There was a moment of embarrassed silence before the sergeant answered.
"Well, uhm, ... they did seem to get some gold...but, mainly, he seemed interested in some of the...some of the shop's...signs, m'lady."
Unable to hold back her laughter, she sprayed him with a fine mist of beer.
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
Kirstyn noticed that her fool of a brother seemed to be heading off in a different direction from everyone else.
"He's probably screwed up again," she reasoned. "Then again...maybe he knows something."
She also wondered who had attempted to loot after the peasant mob had appeared.
"What a yipyog!" she said, in the Talex dialect.
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
Kirstyn and her men were resting at the roadside when Deathwyrm's troop marched up to them.
"About time you got here, you yipyog!" she said, a sarcastic edge to her voice. "You've really messed it up this time!"
Deathwyrm, who had been about to chastise his sister, stopped in his tracks, speechless.
"I messed up? What about - " He was cut off before he could finish.
"Don't you even scout?" she demanded. "Don't you even stop to talk to people?" Seeing the blank look on his face, her anger subsided.
"Oh, for the Aenil...look, there's rumors all over the place of a big massacre up in Lantzas. Apparently the High Marshal is killed, although some say it was a different Lord, and that he quit in disgrace." She took a drink from her waterskin.
"Everyone else in Ornaz went north...I have no idea why you lead me this way..."
"Lead you..?"
"But, fortunately, Erahol only has a small detachment of militia behind a palisade, so we should take them easily - IF you follow my lead. Now, here's what I want you to do..."
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
"Now," Kirstyn said, "just do what I said, and we'll be fine. There's only a small group of them. They'll probably break before you even get to the palisade."
She started to ride forward to where her archers were waiting, but looked back over her shoulder one last time.
"And Wyrmie," she added. "Don't mess it up, okay?"
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
Kirstyn and her men crested a small hill and looked down into the valley in front of them. In the far distance were the Ipsosez Mountains, extending north and south for as the eye could see.
She smiled at her cleverness in getting them here. That GA troop had been in such a hurry to get to Erahol to stop them, it had run right past them in the night. "The Empty Bag" had worked to perfection. If only her yipyog of a brother hadn't got himself wounded!
Well, no helping that. They would arrive at dawn, and then a good healthy day's looting of a rich mining region. She smiled again and urged the horse forward.
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
Kirstyn walked down a side alley of Talex. Ah! it felt great to be back in the city. Now, just to slip back to -
She pulled up short. Damn the Aenil! There was the one person she wanted most to avoid!
Her father and a handful of advisers were heading right for her. She was covered in the grime of a week's battles and marching; she couldn't let him see her like this.
Looking around, she saw a side door to the Academy and slipped inside...
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
"Shhhh!" She held a finger over her lips as a warning to her handmaiden.
Gretchen nodded. Looking over Kirstyn's attire, she said, "I'll draw your bath."
"Oh, and My Lady," she added. "He's waiting."
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
Kirstyn couldn't believe it.
After a week of running around the backwoods of Greater Aenilia and Ethialia, looting almost at will, she had been picked up by one of the few remaining patrols in Arempos, of all places.
She paced the length of the small cell, swearing so hard the guards inched their way a little further from the cell door.
This was her father's fault! If he would just leave her alone to do as she pleased. She was seventeen now - surely old enough to decide some things for herself.
One thing was for sure - when she got out of here, she was going to get another troop and get right back to her looting. Maybe some mixed infantry this time...
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Noble)
Kirstyn read the announcement and blanched.
"...Champion of Talex"
"Champion?" she said. "Champion!"
She turned and looked at the new recruits.
"Move out!" she hissed, in a voice that could only be described as demonic.
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Dame of Talex)
"Please take care, Sis," Deathwyrm said from astride his horse. "We'll be back quickly - we just need to run down the remnants of the GA army, maybe loot a little..." He turned his horse and cantered off down the road.
Kirstyn stood outside the healer's tent, still as a statue.
"Stupid wounded men," she mumbled.
A troop of infantry filed past, followed by some archers.
"Stupid wounded men," she said, her face becoming flushed.
A group of nobles rode by, kicking up a choking cloud of dust.
She turned and entered the tent. A clattering of metal could be heard above the sound of the cavalry riding by.
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Dame of Talex)
"C'mon, yipyog! Rally your men."
Deathwyrm jumped to his feet and hastily followed after his sister.
"Rally? Why? Where are we going?" he asked his sister.
Kirstyn handed him the report. "Looks like a good chance to nab an Ethialian noble. Nice little ransom, I'd imagine. Besides, there's no food here."
Deathwyrm entire continence sagged. "Ah, jeez," he mumbled. "Not again.."
Kirstyn Tomarsen (Dame of Talex)
