Greybrook Family/Ferdinand/The Battle of Ardmore

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The short story depicting the unlikely victory of the Enlightenment in Ardmore where Ferdinand managed to survive against rather unpredictable odds. Hence, Adolphus Schwarzherzig named him as the "Hero of Ardmore."

Roleplay from Antonia Fitz Roberts (20 days ago)

message to all nobles of Obia'Syela

Blood and Rain

The rain soaked into the ground beneath the martyrs’ feet, trickling off their helmets and drenching their clothes, which clung uncomfortably to their bodies. Antonia stood at the front, peering over the lines of soldiers deployed in front of her. The fact that they were standing slightly further down the slope of the gentle hill on which they stood, coupled with her great height, allowed her to see clearly the incoming monstrous forms and shambling undead. Today, the monster packs appeared to be mostly trolls, but she could see other horrors scattered throughout their ranks. Behind her the bells of the small village that they were defending today from devastation were tolling in earnest, warning people to flee the oncoming tide. She smiled to herself: they would have no reason to run soon. She pulled her dripping blonde hair from her eyes and looked up and down the lines. She did not know how, but the battle line was a shambles. She was where she had been ordered to be. However, she could see infantry in front of her and archers to her left and right. That annoyed her. If anyone should be at the front, it should be the Martyrs. Were they not the most skilled, the most ferocious, the most dedicated warriors of Obeah? She guessed it didn’t really matter

‘Another day, another battle, eh Ana?’ Rossitta spoke cheerily, her longswords already out of their sheaths, moving her neck from side to side and loosening up her limbs

‘Aye, they’ve been rather boring of late. Maybe this one will prove an actual challenge’ Rebecca spoke in a gruff, low voice. Antonia was tall, as were all of her lineage, but still Rebecca towered over even her. The big woman had long been Antonia’s bodyguard and squire. Her loyalty was unshaking and her ferocity was unmatched.

‘It looks like they are moving at last’ Antonia said, her eyes fixed on the oncoming packs as the arrows began to fly from their ranks. She saw the enemy grow closer and the infantry at the front charge forward to meet them. She heard the thundering of hooves and saw the cavalry of Alacrix surge forwards into the fray. She smiled as she saw them scatter one pack, but then her eyes widened in horror as the horde of ghouls and zombies broke through the frontlines. She looked to the left and saw Sir Ferdinand order his Trident to advance. She quickly donned her helmet and ordered the Martyrs to do the same. The archers pulled back through their ranks as the Martyrs charged, flanked by the Trident to their right.

‘Acriter et Fideliter!!!!’ the war cry of the Martyrs rang out over the seemingly silent battlefield.

Then all was chaos. Antonia quickly lost sight of her companions and focused only on the problems immediately before her. She swiftly cut through the ranks of undead, several other Martyrs by her side. But already they were being overwhelmed. She could hear the screams of fear and agony as her soldiers were isolated and torn apart by grasping claws and biting jaws. She began a fighting retreat, her skilful swordplay keeping all foes at bay, as she glanced desperately around the battle. At last she saw the distinctive red head of her oldest friend, duelling with what looked like a Wightlord. She hastened to join her, bringing the weight of her blade down onto the Wight’s shoulder, giving Rossitta the time she needed to drive her sword into the face of the horror, before striking off its head with a swipe of her other longsword. Drawing from instincts of nearly a decade of fighting side by side, the two women went back to back, holding off the undead all around them.

‘Where’s Inge?’ Antonia bellowed over the din of the battle

‘Dead’

‘Susan? Vittoria? Guilia?’

‘They’re all dead, we might well join them soon’

‘Dead? Well, let’s just keep fighting then! Give the other girls time to withdraw’

‘Ana, there are no other infantry’, Rebecca said, running up to join her mistress, ‘we are the last, it is only archers left’

‘Bugger it, we hold as long as possible’ Antonia bellowed, striking a ghoul’s head from its quivering shoulders and ducking the filthy claws of another before burying her zweihander in its chest, lifting it into the air with her might strength and bringing its body down onto the head of a third. Antonia turned and saw Captain Balthasar, desperately trying to hold off the pressing foes with his rapier. The fool! Antonia had told him time and time again that a rapier was not suited to the battlefield, but his ego had meant that her words had fallen on deaf ears.


Blood and Rain Part II ‘Ana, there are no other infantry’, Rebecca said, running up to join her mistress, ‘we are the last, it is only archers left’


‘Bugger it, we hold as long as possible’ Antonia bellowed, striking a ghoul’s head from its quivering shoulders and ducking the filthy claws of another before burying her zweihander in its chest, lifting it into the air with her might strength and bringing its body down onto the head of a third. Antonia turned and saw Captain Balthasar, desperately trying to hold off the pressing foes with his rapier. The fool! Antonia had told him time and time again that a rapier was not suited to the battlefield, but his ego had meant that her words had fallen on deaf ears.

‘Balthasar, here!’ Antonia called out. The man looked up and fought his way over to the small group of fighters surrounded by a seemingly endless sea of death.

‘Good’, Antonia breathed a sigh of relief, ‘now if we can just get back to our lines we should be able to…’

She was cut off by a shriek of pain from Rebecca, who had fallen into the quagmire of mud below her, a bolt protruding from her shoulder. Antonia looked back to see that the lines of archers had started to shoot into the mass of undead that still surrounded her own fighters

‘There’s Templars still out here you bastards!!!’ Antonia turned to Balthasar and Rossita, picking up a fallen shield, ‘you two carry Rebecca back, we can do nothing more now!’ Antonia went first, using the large rondache to deflect the oncoming allied arrows. They reached the lines of archers, who continued to pour death into the screeching horde of ghouls, which fell to the hail of bolts and arrows. Antonia pushed through the ranks of archers and continued to retreat back to the village, Balthasar and Rossitta following close behind, but struggling under the weight of the massive form of Rebecca. Antonia forced her way through the first door that she came too, looking around to the see the startled family cowering in the corner

‘Help us’ she yelled, but pleadingly, as her companions pulled through her loyal bodyguard into the small and cramped room and placed her down on the table in the centre of the room. A woman stood up quickly and rushed over to the table, calling to her daughters to fetch herbs and a needle from her cupboard. Antonia, unable to watch as the goodwife worked on her friend, stumbled back out into the rain. She pulled off her helmet and tossed it to one side. She fell to her knees and spread her arms wide, roaring her anguish to the heavens. The other retreated Martyrs saw their leader, but none dared approach the figure, her blood red armour splattered in mud and the foul ooze of the undead.




Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig (11 days, 2 hours ago)

message to all nobles of Obia'Syela Ardmore:

Adolphus lined his men up, and noted with amusement as the Grand Inquisitor marched her men out in front of his. He began to bark orders, and stopped in his tracks when he noticed Ferdinand, and two soldiers take up position on his left.

"By Obeah, he did stay. Mad bastard." Adolphus muttered to himself. A horn blew, and his attention snapped back to the field.

"Move up!" He shouted, his men getting on line with Jessica's men as they opened fire. "Halt!" Adolphus barked, struggling to contain his laughter as he noticed the Grand Inquisitor firing her bow, her arrows landing well wide of the encroaching mob of monsters and undead. Her men however, managed to fell one beast.

"Draw!" Adolphus bellowed.

"Wait for it!" He shouted, letting the beasts and wights close the gap some. "Loose!" he cried, and the combined volleys of his men and Jessica's men landed among the advancing hordes, thinning their ranks appreciably. Adolphus noticed however, that Ferdinand and his duo of men were still advancing.

"WARE FRIENDLY INFANTRY. GIVE THEM COVER!" He barked. "Draw!" he followed up. "LOOSE!" Another volley hit home, monsters died screaming, wights crumpled silently to the ground... Too late. They had closed with Ferdinand's men, and he lost sight of them. "Fire at will! But carefully!" Adolphus barked, himself loosing a bolt from his crossbow, catching a wight in the eye as it swung a rusted blade at Ferdinand. He lost sight of the Knight in the scuffle, but could hear the moans of the wounded as the lines cleared, and the last beasts and wights fell. Adolphus marveled at the bravery of his fellow Knight.

"Healers! A damned hero lays out there! Bring him back, retrieve the wounded, and be damned quick, we're not done here." Adolphus yelled, and turned snarling back to his own men. "Draw!" he commanded, but could hear muttering... He could hear panic. The men obliged though, and with another command, they loosed. Next to them, as they loosed their volley, the Grand Inquisitor's men panicked and fled the field.

"NOT ONE STEP BACK!" Adolphus berated his men, beating at them with the flat of his sword as they tried to step backward. "DRAW ANOTHER BLEEDING ARROW!" and his men, checked by their commander's rage, obliged. "Stand your ground, and the day will be ours! Now loose!" he bellowed, praying to himself that they would stand their ground. A handful more wights fell, but the hordes were menacingly close now, and though he shouted, and kicked and spat, the men still broke and ran. Adolphus stepped forward to meet the foe himself, but was tackled and dragged off, spitting and swearing, by a pair of his own men.

"Cowards! I'll hang the lot of you!" he snapped, struggling against the men dragging him from the field.




Roleplay from Ferdinand Greybrook (9 days, 7 hours ago)

Message sent to everyone in "Heralds of Obeah" (36 recipients) Scars - Rines. Sitting by the fountain a few hundred yards away from the Templar Nexus, Ferdinand looked at his scars. Too many times he had been seriously wounded and survived. Too many times before that men had died in front of him and he had survived. Hence, with a wound that would of made a maiden weep upon it's infliction near his stomach, Ferdinand watched the traffic of people pass through the city. Ferdinand couldn't move as freely as he did before. However, he believed he would recover. As Ferdinand was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice one of his scouts sit next to him and began to speak to him: 'Sire, if I could be so bold, there are two things I believe I should point out to you.' He did not know his name. Even if he did, he couldn't bare to talk to him. He had saved his life already twice in the last month. 'I worry for your state of body sire. You really need to eat something and return to bed-rest at least for the day. Second, the 'Hero of Ardmore' should really be looking to obtain a new retinue. Something perhaps more fitting than your previous gathering.' Ferdinand paused for a second. Thinking back to the campaigns in the south, changes need to be made. Both inside and out.