The Black Knight of Tyr: One
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:23 am
Selgaunt was beseiged. Half of the city was blocked off by barricades and armored black guards that kept watch over them. The fighting, fiery lights, and smoke loomed in the distance, depicting the battles were being waged on the harbor. Arakiel felt out-of-place there, but he needed to see for himself what was taking place.
Night fell, as he wandered the safe side of the city for abit, noting the tension that seemed to thicken the atmosphere from the nearby battles. His wandering led him past a woman that was crying at her loss of a family slain in the battle. Her loss drove him nearer the barricades with grim resolve. War always brought about the death of innocents and always at the cost of a higher power's quest for power, land and greed. There was no justice for the innocent, no savior to protect them from someone else's warmongering... except those that would come to their defense. Arakiel knew that with Selgaunt's reputation, it would be rare and few that would.
He walked towards the barricades and one of the city's guard stopped him.
" I wouldn't go past here if I were you," the guard in black-metaled plate spoke. " The harbor is completely overrun with Thayans."
Arakiel sternly looked at the man, and walked past him. The noise of battle escalated as the street opened up to chaos and death. Bodies lay dead on the streets, houses burned with the pitch fires that launched from the smoke-screened harbor and beyond. Boats lie wrecked, turned over, and half-sunk in the waters near the docks. Arakiel let his warrior instincts take hold of him, and he began to utilize the shadows and silence of his steps.
He zig-zagged from building to building, looking for anyone that might need his aid. All he found were the fallen. His attention was on the harbor when he noticed a small team of Thayan soldiers come into view. Immediately he took to a corner of a building and hid. The haze from the smoke in the air made the difficulty of observation a task for Arakiel so he slid along the wall closer to get a better view. The Thayans found some civilians, hiding.
Arakiel watched in horror as the Thayan soldiers cut them down. A few remained to most likely peruse their belongings while the rest spread out back to where Arakiel laid in wait. Arakiel stepped forward, unconciously, his anger blocking his common sense momentarily. He stepped from his hidden corner, and was spotted. His senses came back to him as he noticed a few rush at him. With a sneer, he withdrew his longsword "Malek's Revenge" from the sheath at his back and stepped back around the corner to where he hid. Carefully sliding his arm around to his shield, and into the leather straps, he brought his Tyrran shield out in front of him and waited.
The first soldier ran around the corner foolishly to meet a swift slash from Arakiel's blade. He dropped and fell instantaneously, and the second came about, stepping over his fallen comrade. Arakiel blocked with his shield at the man's poor attempt and skill, and retorted with a skillful arc that shred through the Thayan's armor and cut his chest open wide. Arakiel's anger became tenfold, and stepped from the building and charged the other Thayan soldiers that were distracted by their recent slaying of civilians. One by one, they fell to Arakiel's skillful art in the longsword and his just vengeance.
After they were dispatched, Arakiel searched them for documents, parchments, anything that would make sense of such a strange beseigement by the Thayans. Nothing was found that detailed such, though a fat coinpurse served as a small payment for his actions.
His shield and sword were put away, and he continued his awareness of his surroundings, blending in within the darkness of the night's veil. His eyes followed the waters once again, and this time a small shape broke slowly through the wall of smoke. It was a small boat by his guess, and most likely, more Thayan soldiers. He crouched in near the docks under a torn shed and waited, watching the boat as it drifted closer.
Three Thayan Knights were brought to the docksides, all armored in red ornate plate mail and brandishing bastard swords of seemingly decent quality. They climbed to the docks and walked out onto the battle strewn streets. Arakiel clenched his teeth and knew these were not fodder like the Thayan scum he had just slain. These were the elite. Carefully moving away from the shed, he slinked back into the shadows that covered the residential homes and wreckage. He watched behind him to make sure he had not been spotted, and continued along the battleground.
His path took him to a neighborhood where Thayans patrolled the streets up and down. They had taken the area by the looks of things, and Arakiel wedged himself into a nook in a building near the wandering patrols. He timed them, and watched for patterns in their patrol routes. He was about to strike at the nearest soldier when a Thayan Knight and two lesser grunts walked right by, near his location. He leaned back against the wall as far as he could go, careful not to make a sound. His eyes followed them as they walked down back the street in the direction he came from. He followed silently, and slid up alongside a doorframe, listening and watching as best he could.
" I was told there were still some civilians hiding in this building here," the Thayan Knight spoke in a dark tone while looking between the two grunts." Our orders are to find them, and capture them. If they resist at all, kill them."
The grunts saluted the Knight and grinned maliciously, turning for the door. The three opened the unlocked door and entered the building with no hesitation. As they entered, Arakiel reached to a side pouch and withdrew a potion. He popped the cork stopper off the vial, and drank it's contents, it's magic coursed throughout his body, hardening his skin like the bark of a live tree. He cautiously followed the Thayans into the building, his glances to the sides and behind him, to make sure his prescence was unknown to those in the area.
The house was already in shambles as Arakiel stepped inside. A wall to his left, that extended out, divided the entryway to the other room, where a small kitchen, dining area, and a large bed lay. Across from the entrance was the stairs leading up, with a large portion of the wall collapsed across half the staircase. He heard the loud metal clanking of the soldiers in the next room, and he leaned up against the wall hard.
The Thayan Knight grunted and kicked a small wooden chair from the table in the other room and all three searched the room for signs of life. The Knight eyed the stairs upwards and turned to the grunts.
" Check upstairs. I will remain here," the Knight ordered the two. They complied and made their way to the staircase, not noticing the man in black leaning against the wall behind them. The Knight thought to himself, if they try to escape, he will be there to greet them, and a wicked smile stretched across his lips under his devilish helm.
Arakiel watched the two stumble and make way past the rubble that had covered the stairs, and as soon as they were no longer in sight, he withdrew his longsword once more, and slid his arm quietly into the leather bands of his shield. Without walking without sound, he came around the corner of the wall and faced the Knight.
"Hey," Arakiel grinned meanly, making his prescence known to the Knight.
The Knight turned to Arakiel, who walked slowly towards him, and as if confusion were not shown on his covered face beneath his garish helm, it was spoken in reply.
"What is this?" the Knight hissed. The Knight was slightly caught off-guard. The man before him was not dressed in Selgaunt armor.
" This is what I call justice." Arakiel glared at the crimson armored Knight, and swung his blade upwards in a surprising angle into the man's chest, slashing him with a deep but not fatal wound. Arakiel brought his shield to the front of him, and stepped toe-to-toe with the Knight and prepared for a duel.
The Thayan furiously struck outwards after Arakiel's well-placed blow, and found Arakiel to be quicker than expected. Arakiel ducked the first swing and brought his enchanted blade up at another vicious angle, gashing the man once more with a clean slice. The Thayan grimaced inside his helmet and while enraged, swung inwards towards Arakiel's sword arm. An unskilled fighter would have easily taken a hit to the arm with such a skilled manuever, losing their mobility in attack. But such was not Arakiel, as he blocked straight-out with his longsword to intersect the Thayan's bastard sword in a perfect cross. Metal rang out on metal, with tiny sparks emitted where the two blades clashed.
Both brought their blades apart and readied for another round. The Thayan began to understand Arakiel's tactics in manuevering and managed to score a few hits here and there, but none were too affectual as the potion Arakiel imbibed earlier still had it's effect. Arakiel proved himself the Thayan's match though, blocking a shot to his leg and a landing a few more cuts of his own. Soon the Thayan, tired from his blood loss and numerous wounds, opened himself up foolishly after a counter-strike, allowing Arakiel to finish him off in one solid swing.
Arakiel watched the mass of metal and flesh crumple onto the kitchen floor, and then turned his attention back towards the staircase where the grunts were now pushing their way past the rubble on the stairs, to ascertain the commotion coming from down below. Arakiel walked calmly to the wall near the stairs and waited around the corner.
The grunts emerged from around the corner, and Arakiel cut both of them down effortlessly. Sheathing his blade and strapping his shield back, he walked over to the dead Knight and searched him thoroughly, again, searching for answers as to why the Thayans are attacking the richest city in Sembia. At last, his hands found a letter amongst the Knight's belongings, and just as he opened to read it, his ears caught a muffled sob. He looked towards the large bed that was across from him and the dining area, and knew that was the location of the sound.
" Come on out. It is safe now. " Arakiel spoke softly, using his own voice to calm his nerves from the adrenaline of recent battle as well as comfort for those underneath the bed. The cry of fear at being discovered, came from underneath the bed. " My name is Arakiel... I give you my word that no harm will come ta' you." He continued to speak warmly and calmly. He walked over to the fallen Knight and kicked him once.
" These buggers won't be botherin' ya' anymore," he said with a soft smile, as his eyes returned back to the letter in his hands, and then back to the bed. They weren't coming out he thought to himself. He opened the letter and began to read. Just as his eyes touched the words, a girl crawled out from beneath the bed.
" Oh. " Arakiel noticed her and divided his attention solely on the girl. He kneeled to her height and smiled warmly. " Everything is alright now. I will not harm you." As he spoke, the girl's mother slid out from underneath the bed, her face still etched with fright and despair. Arakiel rose to his feet and nodded his head to the woman politely.
" We will never leave this cursed city alive!" the woman spoke sternly at Arakiel, her fear consuming her almost completely. The girl and her mother had heavy lines under their eyes and looked as if they had been crying for several days. Arakiel knew they were trapped here because of the patrols that were just outside the house and his mind already began to search for the means to their escape. The woman eyed Arakiel up and down, and with a puzzled look asked, " Who are you? You're not from around here are you?"
Arakiel grinned, " Nay, I am just a wanderer from Daggerdale, an' I serve the Just God Tyr. You have nothin' ta' fear from me milady." The woman's face slowly became relaxed, as if she was feeling abit more safe. The girl watched her mother's expressions and copied them.
" We are trapped here... there are too many soldiers on the streets.. if they find us, they will kill us for sure," the woman logically explained. Arakiel had already begun his search for their means of escape though, and was digging through a side pouch. He produced two vials containing a liquid, and held them out to the woman.
" Here, take these, " Arakiel explained, " They are potions of invisibility. Drink them just afore ya' head out the door, an' run ta' the north end o' the city... an' don't look back. Oh, an' if ya see a wizard, steer clear o' 'em... they might be able ta' spot ya'. "
The woman looked at the vials held out and took them slowly, looking into Arakiel's eyes briefly as she handed one to her daughter. Slowly, her expression showed hope and a small smile found her face.
" You have saved us. At last we have a way out of here," she stated as she became brighter in spirits. She took her daughter's hand and began to lead her to the door. The girl stopped a moment to regard Arakiel and the mother stopped at her daughter's sudden halt to watch.
" Thank you mister," the girl smiled warmly at Arakiel. Arakiel nodded with a polite grin.
"Yer welcome milady," he replied as he watched both turn and leave. They did as he spoke and were gone. He atlast turned his attention towards the letter, which gave him not the answers he was looking for, but orders as to what is being done with civilians captured. He left the house quietly and began to weave in and out of debris and buildings, keeping himself well covered and silent. The streets here still belonged to the Thayans, he thought to himself as he glanced about, noticing archers on stairways along the buildings and walls, and patrols of grunts still wandering about.
Arakiel once again drew his sword and shield and begun what he would call 'work in short order'. He contested battle against all he found in that neighborhood, slaying all that dared to cross swords. At the street's end, he came to a well-defended wall, and knew beyond, the threat was too large for one man to handle. A red wizard and two archers up on top the wall, caught sight of Arakiel, and the mage cast a fireball, but Arakiel was too quick and managed to find cover around the side of a building. Arakiel brought his bow from out behind his back and notched an arrow. He thought to himself there would be one less red wizard alive this day and crept back into view of the archers and wizard. A few arrows later, the archers and wizard were dead.
Arakiel finished cleaning the area up with his bow and blade, finally leaving before reinforcements were called in. His retreat led him to fray with fire elementals in the Kozakuran district before he finally reached the barricades. Covered in oily soot, smoke, and blood, he emerged from the barricade past the black guard that stood vigilant at the barricades, sword and shield still in hand.
" Oi! Oi! Put the weapon away!" the guard scolded Arakiel.
Arakiel kept walking, sheathing his blade. At that point, Arakiel was rather disappointed in being one of the rare and few to care for the civilians of Selgaunt that day, knowing exactly what their fates were in the hands of the Thayans.
" Aye.. aye," Arakiel said dryly to the guard, his back still facing them as he continued his walk away from the siege, and away from Selgaunt.
~killthorne~
( Thanks to Electryc for the fun... some of this may be slightly out of order, but it's realllllly close to what happened)
Night fell, as he wandered the safe side of the city for abit, noting the tension that seemed to thicken the atmosphere from the nearby battles. His wandering led him past a woman that was crying at her loss of a family slain in the battle. Her loss drove him nearer the barricades with grim resolve. War always brought about the death of innocents and always at the cost of a higher power's quest for power, land and greed. There was no justice for the innocent, no savior to protect them from someone else's warmongering... except those that would come to their defense. Arakiel knew that with Selgaunt's reputation, it would be rare and few that would.
He walked towards the barricades and one of the city's guard stopped him.
" I wouldn't go past here if I were you," the guard in black-metaled plate spoke. " The harbor is completely overrun with Thayans."
Arakiel sternly looked at the man, and walked past him. The noise of battle escalated as the street opened up to chaos and death. Bodies lay dead on the streets, houses burned with the pitch fires that launched from the smoke-screened harbor and beyond. Boats lie wrecked, turned over, and half-sunk in the waters near the docks. Arakiel let his warrior instincts take hold of him, and he began to utilize the shadows and silence of his steps.
He zig-zagged from building to building, looking for anyone that might need his aid. All he found were the fallen. His attention was on the harbor when he noticed a small team of Thayan soldiers come into view. Immediately he took to a corner of a building and hid. The haze from the smoke in the air made the difficulty of observation a task for Arakiel so he slid along the wall closer to get a better view. The Thayans found some civilians, hiding.
Arakiel watched in horror as the Thayan soldiers cut them down. A few remained to most likely peruse their belongings while the rest spread out back to where Arakiel laid in wait. Arakiel stepped forward, unconciously, his anger blocking his common sense momentarily. He stepped from his hidden corner, and was spotted. His senses came back to him as he noticed a few rush at him. With a sneer, he withdrew his longsword "Malek's Revenge" from the sheath at his back and stepped back around the corner to where he hid. Carefully sliding his arm around to his shield, and into the leather straps, he brought his Tyrran shield out in front of him and waited.
The first soldier ran around the corner foolishly to meet a swift slash from Arakiel's blade. He dropped and fell instantaneously, and the second came about, stepping over his fallen comrade. Arakiel blocked with his shield at the man's poor attempt and skill, and retorted with a skillful arc that shred through the Thayan's armor and cut his chest open wide. Arakiel's anger became tenfold, and stepped from the building and charged the other Thayan soldiers that were distracted by their recent slaying of civilians. One by one, they fell to Arakiel's skillful art in the longsword and his just vengeance.
After they were dispatched, Arakiel searched them for documents, parchments, anything that would make sense of such a strange beseigement by the Thayans. Nothing was found that detailed such, though a fat coinpurse served as a small payment for his actions.
His shield and sword were put away, and he continued his awareness of his surroundings, blending in within the darkness of the night's veil. His eyes followed the waters once again, and this time a small shape broke slowly through the wall of smoke. It was a small boat by his guess, and most likely, more Thayan soldiers. He crouched in near the docks under a torn shed and waited, watching the boat as it drifted closer.
Three Thayan Knights were brought to the docksides, all armored in red ornate plate mail and brandishing bastard swords of seemingly decent quality. They climbed to the docks and walked out onto the battle strewn streets. Arakiel clenched his teeth and knew these were not fodder like the Thayan scum he had just slain. These were the elite. Carefully moving away from the shed, he slinked back into the shadows that covered the residential homes and wreckage. He watched behind him to make sure he had not been spotted, and continued along the battleground.
His path took him to a neighborhood where Thayans patrolled the streets up and down. They had taken the area by the looks of things, and Arakiel wedged himself into a nook in a building near the wandering patrols. He timed them, and watched for patterns in their patrol routes. He was about to strike at the nearest soldier when a Thayan Knight and two lesser grunts walked right by, near his location. He leaned back against the wall as far as he could go, careful not to make a sound. His eyes followed them as they walked down back the street in the direction he came from. He followed silently, and slid up alongside a doorframe, listening and watching as best he could.
" I was told there were still some civilians hiding in this building here," the Thayan Knight spoke in a dark tone while looking between the two grunts." Our orders are to find them, and capture them. If they resist at all, kill them."
The grunts saluted the Knight and grinned maliciously, turning for the door. The three opened the unlocked door and entered the building with no hesitation. As they entered, Arakiel reached to a side pouch and withdrew a potion. He popped the cork stopper off the vial, and drank it's contents, it's magic coursed throughout his body, hardening his skin like the bark of a live tree. He cautiously followed the Thayans into the building, his glances to the sides and behind him, to make sure his prescence was unknown to those in the area.
The house was already in shambles as Arakiel stepped inside. A wall to his left, that extended out, divided the entryway to the other room, where a small kitchen, dining area, and a large bed lay. Across from the entrance was the stairs leading up, with a large portion of the wall collapsed across half the staircase. He heard the loud metal clanking of the soldiers in the next room, and he leaned up against the wall hard.
The Thayan Knight grunted and kicked a small wooden chair from the table in the other room and all three searched the room for signs of life. The Knight eyed the stairs upwards and turned to the grunts.
" Check upstairs. I will remain here," the Knight ordered the two. They complied and made their way to the staircase, not noticing the man in black leaning against the wall behind them. The Knight thought to himself, if they try to escape, he will be there to greet them, and a wicked smile stretched across his lips under his devilish helm.
Arakiel watched the two stumble and make way past the rubble that had covered the stairs, and as soon as they were no longer in sight, he withdrew his longsword once more, and slid his arm quietly into the leather bands of his shield. Without walking without sound, he came around the corner of the wall and faced the Knight.
"Hey," Arakiel grinned meanly, making his prescence known to the Knight.
The Knight turned to Arakiel, who walked slowly towards him, and as if confusion were not shown on his covered face beneath his garish helm, it was spoken in reply.
"What is this?" the Knight hissed. The Knight was slightly caught off-guard. The man before him was not dressed in Selgaunt armor.
" This is what I call justice." Arakiel glared at the crimson armored Knight, and swung his blade upwards in a surprising angle into the man's chest, slashing him with a deep but not fatal wound. Arakiel brought his shield to the front of him, and stepped toe-to-toe with the Knight and prepared for a duel.
The Thayan furiously struck outwards after Arakiel's well-placed blow, and found Arakiel to be quicker than expected. Arakiel ducked the first swing and brought his enchanted blade up at another vicious angle, gashing the man once more with a clean slice. The Thayan grimaced inside his helmet and while enraged, swung inwards towards Arakiel's sword arm. An unskilled fighter would have easily taken a hit to the arm with such a skilled manuever, losing their mobility in attack. But such was not Arakiel, as he blocked straight-out with his longsword to intersect the Thayan's bastard sword in a perfect cross. Metal rang out on metal, with tiny sparks emitted where the two blades clashed.
Both brought their blades apart and readied for another round. The Thayan began to understand Arakiel's tactics in manuevering and managed to score a few hits here and there, but none were too affectual as the potion Arakiel imbibed earlier still had it's effect. Arakiel proved himself the Thayan's match though, blocking a shot to his leg and a landing a few more cuts of his own. Soon the Thayan, tired from his blood loss and numerous wounds, opened himself up foolishly after a counter-strike, allowing Arakiel to finish him off in one solid swing.
Arakiel watched the mass of metal and flesh crumple onto the kitchen floor, and then turned his attention back towards the staircase where the grunts were now pushing their way past the rubble on the stairs, to ascertain the commotion coming from down below. Arakiel walked calmly to the wall near the stairs and waited around the corner.
The grunts emerged from around the corner, and Arakiel cut both of them down effortlessly. Sheathing his blade and strapping his shield back, he walked over to the dead Knight and searched him thoroughly, again, searching for answers as to why the Thayans are attacking the richest city in Sembia. At last, his hands found a letter amongst the Knight's belongings, and just as he opened to read it, his ears caught a muffled sob. He looked towards the large bed that was across from him and the dining area, and knew that was the location of the sound.
" Come on out. It is safe now. " Arakiel spoke softly, using his own voice to calm his nerves from the adrenaline of recent battle as well as comfort for those underneath the bed. The cry of fear at being discovered, came from underneath the bed. " My name is Arakiel... I give you my word that no harm will come ta' you." He continued to speak warmly and calmly. He walked over to the fallen Knight and kicked him once.
" These buggers won't be botherin' ya' anymore," he said with a soft smile, as his eyes returned back to the letter in his hands, and then back to the bed. They weren't coming out he thought to himself. He opened the letter and began to read. Just as his eyes touched the words, a girl crawled out from beneath the bed.
" Oh. " Arakiel noticed her and divided his attention solely on the girl. He kneeled to her height and smiled warmly. " Everything is alright now. I will not harm you." As he spoke, the girl's mother slid out from underneath the bed, her face still etched with fright and despair. Arakiel rose to his feet and nodded his head to the woman politely.
" We will never leave this cursed city alive!" the woman spoke sternly at Arakiel, her fear consuming her almost completely. The girl and her mother had heavy lines under their eyes and looked as if they had been crying for several days. Arakiel knew they were trapped here because of the patrols that were just outside the house and his mind already began to search for the means to their escape. The woman eyed Arakiel up and down, and with a puzzled look asked, " Who are you? You're not from around here are you?"
Arakiel grinned, " Nay, I am just a wanderer from Daggerdale, an' I serve the Just God Tyr. You have nothin' ta' fear from me milady." The woman's face slowly became relaxed, as if she was feeling abit more safe. The girl watched her mother's expressions and copied them.
" We are trapped here... there are too many soldiers on the streets.. if they find us, they will kill us for sure," the woman logically explained. Arakiel had already begun his search for their means of escape though, and was digging through a side pouch. He produced two vials containing a liquid, and held them out to the woman.
" Here, take these, " Arakiel explained, " They are potions of invisibility. Drink them just afore ya' head out the door, an' run ta' the north end o' the city... an' don't look back. Oh, an' if ya see a wizard, steer clear o' 'em... they might be able ta' spot ya'. "
The woman looked at the vials held out and took them slowly, looking into Arakiel's eyes briefly as she handed one to her daughter. Slowly, her expression showed hope and a small smile found her face.
" You have saved us. At last we have a way out of here," she stated as she became brighter in spirits. She took her daughter's hand and began to lead her to the door. The girl stopped a moment to regard Arakiel and the mother stopped at her daughter's sudden halt to watch.
" Thank you mister," the girl smiled warmly at Arakiel. Arakiel nodded with a polite grin.
"Yer welcome milady," he replied as he watched both turn and leave. They did as he spoke and were gone. He atlast turned his attention towards the letter, which gave him not the answers he was looking for, but orders as to what is being done with civilians captured. He left the house quietly and began to weave in and out of debris and buildings, keeping himself well covered and silent. The streets here still belonged to the Thayans, he thought to himself as he glanced about, noticing archers on stairways along the buildings and walls, and patrols of grunts still wandering about.
Arakiel once again drew his sword and shield and begun what he would call 'work in short order'. He contested battle against all he found in that neighborhood, slaying all that dared to cross swords. At the street's end, he came to a well-defended wall, and knew beyond, the threat was too large for one man to handle. A red wizard and two archers up on top the wall, caught sight of Arakiel, and the mage cast a fireball, but Arakiel was too quick and managed to find cover around the side of a building. Arakiel brought his bow from out behind his back and notched an arrow. He thought to himself there would be one less red wizard alive this day and crept back into view of the archers and wizard. A few arrows later, the archers and wizard were dead.
Arakiel finished cleaning the area up with his bow and blade, finally leaving before reinforcements were called in. His retreat led him to fray with fire elementals in the Kozakuran district before he finally reached the barricades. Covered in oily soot, smoke, and blood, he emerged from the barricade past the black guard that stood vigilant at the barricades, sword and shield still in hand.
" Oi! Oi! Put the weapon away!" the guard scolded Arakiel.
Arakiel kept walking, sheathing his blade. At that point, Arakiel was rather disappointed in being one of the rare and few to care for the civilians of Selgaunt that day, knowing exactly what their fates were in the hands of the Thayans.
" Aye.. aye," Arakiel said dryly to the guard, his back still facing them as he continued his walk away from the siege, and away from Selgaunt.
~killthorne~
( Thanks to Electryc for the fun... some of this may be slightly out of order, but it's realllllly close to what happened)
