Avalon/Roleplay Section/Hector/Attacks on the Capital
Contents
Previous: Defeat in Norjke
Attacks on the Capital, part I
Hector rides into town, he and his horse are both exhausted and wounded. Hectors horse is bleeding from his hind quarters and both front legs. He drops the horse at the local smith and asks for re-shoeing and if he could fetch the doctor to look over his horse. Hector makes his way to the palace and to the local corpsman. The corpsman treats his wounds and sends him on his way.
Hector goes to his manor, where he sees a battered carriage, partially burned and bashes along the sides. An unharmed horse grazes near by.
Hector makes his way to the front door and starts to enter. He feels something behind him and wheels around, drawing his sword. “Arian!”
Arian smiles, “Your senses are improving, Lord Hector, I am impressed. You are one of two people to have ever heard me coming.”
“I didn’t hear you, I felt you.” Hector says, as he returns the smile. But, then realizes he is distrustful of the man, and returns to a frown.
“Hector, please, why do you hold back from me? We could learn a great deal from each other if you just allow it to happen.”
Hector turns, and opens the door to enter his manor. He sees Jessica reading by the fire. Body guards are on the second story banister watching over her. Hector turns back to Arian, “Nicely done. I think you could be a good general some day, sir.”
Arian nods, his face mostly hidden by his cloak. “Hector, Jessica is going to be a bit disconnected as the path she must walk is slowly revealed to her. You must not take it as disconnection from you, but disconnection from herself. She is still very much in love with you, and that love will give her the strength to do what must be done. She will save Avalon as well as the rest of this continent from destruction, and you will love her for it!”
“I know the fate is sealed now, Arian. I just hope she’s not harmed. I fear for her safety.”
“As do I, and I will, without a doubt, give my life to save her. You would too, right?”
“Without a doubt, Arian. I would give my life to keep her from even getting hurt, let alone saving her.”
Arian smiles, he feels quite comforted in Hector’s comments. “Hector, she feels the same. She will save Avalon from destruction, but not unless your love can show her how. It’s complicated, but you will see.”
Hector turns away, starring at Jessica. “She’s so innocent and young. She really should not have been exposed to such dangers. I should have let her stay at Kain’s or Xaero’s and gone on to safety.”
“But then, she would have died, because the chosen would not have been selected and she would have been consumed along with every other living creature on this planet! So, you actually did the right thing, Hector.” Arian says. He can see the confusion on Hectors face.
“You’re right. As long as I can keep her alive, then I’ll be happy.” Hector says, looking down.
“We will both keep her alive, for the sake of all man-kind.” Arian says as he turns towards Hector, light from the fire place flickering of his hood and face.
Hector looks up at Arian, sensing sincerity in him. He smiles, finally comfortable in the fact that Jessica is involved now. He will just have to protect her and allow her to do what she must. Jessica glances up from her book, she turns to Hector and smiles, then, looks back down to her book to continue where she left off.
Hector walks upstairs to retire for the evening. He doesn’t notice, the book she reads is titled, “The Whispering Grove”.
Attacks on the Capital, part II
The next day, Hector is awakened by a scribe. “Sir, sir, wake up! You must wake up sir!”
Hector is groggy, very tired and soar and looks at the scribe. “I know this is important, because no man enters my chambers and touches me without a VERY GOOD reason, right scribe?”
“Of course, sir, of course. Monsters! They gather at the gates of Cteduul. And no one is here to defend her, except you, Minsc and Eriamar!!!”
As Hector pops out of bed, he hears commotion in the streets. He hears a large, low-tone booming through the street of Cteduul. “What is the count of soldiers and those horrible creatures…?”
“Well sir, I think Minsc has about 40 soldiers, you only have 2 soldiers who recovered and Eriamar has 4 soldiers healthy enough for battle.” The scribe says, as he reads over a parchment.
“Well then, sounds like ol’ Minsc is going to save the day then!” Hector says with a smile.
“Well, sir, not really. See, there are about 70 or more Creatures breaking through the city gates right now.”
Hector, jaw and eyes stretched wide open looks up from lacing his boots. “What?!”
Hector rushes out onto the lawn, two of his men, suited and ready for battle!
“Sir, shall we move out? Minsc’s men gather in the courtyard at the opening of the city.”
Hector runs towards the city gates. They follow. Hector is still donning his helmet when he catches up with Eriamar running with his 4 men towards the gates as well. He gives a look at Hector. “Lord Hector, welcome home! I see you’ve just about settled in.” A large grin crossing his face.
“Yes, one can never be too comfortable!” Hector says, returning the smile. Minsc is just ahead, and Eriamar’s men dart forward and charge as Minsc charges. Hector is in the rear.
The Monsters crash the gate and poor into the courtyard. Minsc charges for the left flank as Eriamar hits the right flank. Hector charges the center with his two men. Hector slashes and attacks. Eriamar’s men attack from the left flank, cutting down about 20 Monsters. Hector is still standing with both his men as 4 Creatures fall at his feet. Arian is there, flinging bags over their heads. Flashes of light consume the Wraith, barely visible above their heads. The Monsters scatter. But, retaliate. With no guidance from a wraith, they’ve appeared to form up again… on their own.
Hector glances at Arian, who returns his concerned look. They charge, the Monsters charge. A loud crash is heard as the masses of men and beasts collide.
Hector sees one of his brave soldiers fall, he’s not dead, but has taken a huge gash to the side of the face. One of Minsc’s men pulls him to safety.
Hector looks over and suddenly, only about 14 of Minsc’s men are left. Hector’s down to one man and so is Eriamar. The Monsters are still at 40 strong. “Damn this horde!”
Hector strikes out, he runs beneath the legs of one monster, slashing his artery in his leg, causing it to go crashing down. Minsc leaps in the air, slicing a monsters arm clean off. Arian is there, throwing another mystical bag of powder. A huge explosion deafens everyone, including Hector, who is stunned by the blast. Several monsters lean forward and cover their ears. Hector, Eriamar and Minsc begin to slice them down. Hector, grabs his sword and stabs one Monster through the heart. Minsc and Eriamar take turns beating another down. They look and are suddenly surrounded by 30 or more Monsters. Minsc has about 9 men left and Hector has lost his last one. Eriamar stands near Hector. The two look and realize they had better make their way out of there. Arian throws a powder bag to the ground. Hector and Eriamr shield their eyes. As they look back up, the Monsetrs are staggering, and a hole has opened for them to run through. They break through the lines, and dart off between several buildings. Minsc is right behind them, with several wounded men hobbling after.
Hector turns to the Troop Leaders. “Well, that was interesting.”
Minsc nods and looks at Eriamar. “Your head, sir.” Eriamar reaches up to feel blood over his ear.
“That’s just a scratch. Where’s the nearest pub, I can take care of it there?” He says with a large smile.
The men laugh and limp off down an ally. The Monsters are disoriented, and head back out into the woods to regroup. “No doubt they’ll be back tomorrow, guys. Someone better send word to our General and tell them the peril we are in. We narrowly avoided Cteduul being taken by these goons.”
The men nod in unison as a scribe is sent off to warn Michael of the battle results.
Attacks on the Capital, part III
The following day, Hector’s two men who were not wounded have recovered, while the previous two who were OK recover from their wounds. Hector meets several fellow Troop Leaders on the battlefield outside the gates of the city. Minsc is there, with his 36 men, and the General has come, to defend the capital with about 52 men. Storm with 19 men and Kyla with 4 soldiers also join in on the fun. The 28 undead march out of the woods, ready to attempt to take the city.
Within 2 hours, the Monsters were crushed, and the men return to their homes. Hector loses one soldier, who dies during the fighting. He still has 3, now healthy men left.
When he walked into the manor, he saw Jessica was waiting to greet him at the door. Hector smiled, and huged her. They kissed. It’s been a long time since Hector felt so, ‘at home’, in his own home.
“You must be feeling better.” Hector said with a smile.
Jessica smiled back. “I’m refreshed and ready to hike into the mountains of Cteduul to find the Misty Marsh, where the water pools are.”
Hector’s face droped its smile. “Do we know how to find them?” Hector said, suddenly all business again.
Arian’s voice was heard, “Yes, they are above the canyon of the cataclysm. It will be a dangerous hike, but we should be able to manage. Once there, Jessica will take part in a ritual only known to the elves. She’s been up all night memorizing her duties during the ritual. So, we should be fine!”
Hector walked to a table filled with different drinks and poured himself a glass of hard liquor. “Good, the sooner we are done with this, the better.” Hector said, then downed the drink in one gulp.
They gathered a few horses, and Hector took his 3 men. He’s asked Revan to join them, and they head out up the mountains of Cteduul and across the Canyon of the Cataclysm. This canyon is said to have ruptured during the first great Invasion of the Monsters. It was a great war that caused a shift of the landscape. The energy used during that war by the druids and the elves as well as the Creatures of the Netherworld was so great that it caused volcanoes to erupt and the whole of Beluaterra to change its face. They were finally able to lock the creatues in the netherworld, by luring them to Zod, and performing a magical spell to trap them behind the Colony Tree.
They traveled on for hours until they came to a large Marsh. As they passed the marsh, they came upon some underground springs that illuminated. “These are the pools.” Arian said, as he dismounted. Hector felt something watching him, and looked around. They are in the open; however, only one way out of this place exists. Up a rocky path, full of lose stones and huge cliffs on one side, and a steep wall on the other. Hardly a good situation.
Jessica dismounted her horse and followed a small sandy path to the edge of 5 small pools. They were completely symmetrical with one single pool in the center.
Jessica took the seed from her pouch and walked to the center pool. She started to chant, a chant the book had instructed her to do as she circled the pool. As she chanted, the pools started to bubble and steam. And a glow began to appear from the pools, much brighter than a moment ago. Ghostly vapors whiped about the pool area. They looked like phantoms and Hector started forward. Arian grabed his arm tightly, “Now, now, Hector. You promised.” Hector seamed agitated, and jerked Arians grasp lose.
“I don’t like this.” Hector said.
Revan stared on in amazement. The display was truly something one never saw. Arian explained that the pools fertilize the seed so that when it was returned to Zod, it could take root and repair the rupture in the barrier between this world and the Netherworld. It took some time to repair, so even after the tree began to grow, several weeks may pass until the undead were completely defeated.
As she chanted, she raised the seed above her head, and then slowly submerged it in the center pool. When she was finished, she removed the seed, and the bubbles continued. She glanced back at Arian. “It’s supposed to stop, that’s how we know it worked. What do I do now, Arian?”
Arian opened the book, and read. “I’m not positive but perhaps you should wade into the center of the pool, and submerge the seed.”
Jessica noded, and Hector spun around and stared at Arian. “What are you doing? That water is not safe, it boils, can’t you see?”
Arian turned to Hector. “Well then, her hands would be boiled off then, wouldn’t they?” He says with a smirk.
Hector looked on again, thinking that Arian maked sense.
Jessica lifted the seed above her head again, looked up in the air, then waded into the pools. The waters grew violent and the bubbles increased. As she waded towards the center, suddenly, she droped down completely under water. The bubbles increased more, and the waters churned wildly.
“Jessica!” Hector screamed and started towards her. Revan and Arian blocked his way.
“Hector, wait, I think she’s coming out.” Revan said, as he held his friend.
Indeed, Jessica came from the water, her eyes as large as Hectors fist. She looked terrified. The waters went completely still again as she trenched out of the water.
Hector ran to her, he looked in her eyes, she was in shock. “I know what I must do! It is clear to me now.” She turned to Hector, and gently touched his face. “Your love will give me the strength, Hector.”
As she touched him, a large sound comes from the pathway behind them. Demons have blocked there way out.
Attacks on the Capital, part IV
The demon glared at the men, but seemed especially interested in Jessica. There were two of them, and they looked quite efficient at killing.
Hector glanced over at Revan. “Can you and Arian distract the back one? I’ll take my 3 men against the first one.”
Revan noded. He thought to himself this would be a fine way to die, rescuing a lady. Better than dieing on some battlefield somewhere. He struck out, with Arian. Arian had drawn an odd shaped sword, but appeared to be quite efficient with it. The two men stuck, just as Hector and his 3 men attacked the front one.
Jessica is completely terrified. She hobbled to a tree and hid behind it. Hector, Revan and Arian continued to fight the demons, but they were quick, and they were strong. Two of Hector’s men go flying leaving Hector with one soldier and himself against this demon. Arian pulled a bag from his belt, but the demon was there, striking Arian and sending him flying. A bag exploded off in the distance as it was knocked from Arian’s hand. It reeled around and sliced with it’s claws towards Revan. He Parried quite well, but not fast enough, as the demon cought his arm and sent him spinning.
Hector was blocking the demons attack as well, and attempted to stab at the creature, but it is too fast, dodging his shots. Arian was back up, attacking with his sword, keeping the Demon from attacking Revan any more, allowing him to regroup and get his sword in position to attack.
Hector thought to himself, This will not work. These are not normal creatures, only an army, or magic can stop them now! Hector laughed out loud at what he just said. A week ago, Magic was a children’s tale to him.
The men fought valiantly, but are all knocked backwards. Sprawled out, Hector desperately tried to regain his footing on the loose rocks. It was too late. The creatures turned and charged Jessica who was defenseless. Hector watched in horror as they closed in on her.
Jessica felt something warm inside. She suddenly did not fear them. She smiled, and relaxed, coming out from behind the tree to face them. They got closer, she felt warmer. They closed in, she grew even warmer. Suddenly, a large fire burst from her and consumed the demons. They burned a bright blue flame, then poof, the fire was out, and the demons dropped to the ground. Jessica screamed out and fell to the ground.
Hector looked over at Arian. “What the hell just happened?”
Arian stared on in disbelief. “The seed. It will protect itself until it can be re-birthed.”
Hector looked over at Arian. OK, OK, that makes sense, right? What else could have explained that?
The men got to their feet and looked over at Revan, who was staring at Jessica. “Revan, are you OK?... Revan?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I just am having trouble with fire bursting out of a seed and killing demons. I’ve never seen a seed do that before, that’s all.”
Hector picked up Jessica and placed her on his horse. “I’ll lead this horse, someone grab her horse please.”
They wondered up the path, then down the mountain. They walked for 4 hours, into the wee hours of the morning to Hector’s place. Hector invited Revan to sleep there to regain his strength, Revan accepted. Arian took a guest room, and Hector placed Jessica in his room. He slept on the floor, sword drawn, and across his chest.
Next: Uncertain Times
