Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Hm." Outside the southern gate, Drake lounged lazily on the hilt of his sword as he watch the barrier erect. "...Well that's new. Guess it means they wanna fight." He took a big stretch and then turned around to face the bandits that had collected behind him before relaxing his elbow back upon the hilt of the blade. "Whadya say we give it to em', men?!" A raspy chorus of cheers from the bandit army erupted to express their desire to fight. There were bandits from various different groups in addition to the number of bandits that were already at Pentheus, a force from the Shadow Guild, and even a sizable number of mercenary groups that couldn't pass up the chance for looting from the capital of Learania itself. Drake had done well in gathering more strength, and it wasn't even as many as he could have gotten.

Drake laughed as Mordache's boulders did nothing to the barrier. "Mordache can stew over there and toss their rocks all they want! While they act as a distraction, we'll smash that shield and ransack the city, ourselves!!" The acceptance of the idea was clear in the satisfying cheer. "Everything in there is ours for the taking!! And when this city and its people burn to ash- that is, except for the ones we take for ourselves- we'll have new land to dominate!!" The bandits liked the prospect of that even more and their shouts revealed it. "Viscen!" Drake called, as he looked to his left. "When we get inside, take your guys left." He then looked to his right. "Ali, you go right. Jezebel, you're with me."

Drake stood up and swung his sword over his shoulder as he looked back out at the bandit army. "This is our time! This is the day we prove that we can get whatever we want n'this world with our way o' life! And as ya fight, if ya suddenly see your friend lyin' dead on the ground, blood splattered around him and still gushin' out, don't fret!" He paused as he grinned and then spat out with a mixture of laughter in his words. "Cuz that just means more spoils o' war for you!!" The army responded with a cheer mixed with their own laughter. Once he finished laughing, Drake turned around to face the city and flung his arm towards it. "Bandits... attack!!"

While Mordache continued to fire their catapults at the barrier and exposed wall, Sentria's army charged forward, disorganized yet fiercely. Sine the archers at the wall were on the wall, and thus outside of the barrier, arrows began to fly at the bandits. But soon enough, Drake was at the southern gate. "Get this damn gate outta my way!" Not long after he shouted that, a pair of bandits carried in a metal container filled with black powder. The bandits around backed up and Drake ran over to the bandit that was lighting a torch. "Took ya long enough! No time to set a trail, I want inside!" Before the bandits who carried the mine could begin laying a trail of power, Drake swung the broad side of his blade into the bandit with the torch and sent him flying towards the mine. Their screams were their last words as the gate blasted apart from the following explosion. As the smoke settled, Drake emerged as happy as could be. "Spread out get this barrier down! Unleash HELL! Hahaha!"

The army fanned out and began to close upon where the incantation circles glowed. To much a dismay, their weapons clanked helplessly upon the shielding that covered each caster. It was not the same shielding that covered the city, though, but different spells cast by a member of each caster's protection group. Those around each caster drew their weapons as they awaited for the inevitable moment that the bandits broke through. As Drake ran to the nearest circle right by where the gate used to be, he flung his blade, which lodged into the shielding that cracked from the impact. The protectors inside gasped and readied their stance, which only caused Drake to laugh at their fear. When he reached his blade, Drake pulled it out, and then swung it around to crash again at the small barrier, this time dislodging a large piece from it. "Now!" As he jumped back, a rogue from the Shadow Guild tossed a knife through the opening and struck the guarded caster, who spilled blood and fell to the ground. "Jezebel, deal with these 'protectors' for me, will ya? I've gotta get to the castle and... leave my mark on this king." As the bandit army continued to pour into Eyris, Drake ran off into the streets.

So... it was finally the day. About damn time. If this war dragged on any longer, it'd be Christmas time and they'd have to postpone the next event.

The young lord was stationed near the walls of the city with a few others to protect the mages who were going to set up the barrier around Eyris. Seemed like it was part of some master plan the crew and remaining nobility had come up with. The barrier itself could only buy them some time, as it depended strongly on both the magical power of the mages creating the barrier as well as their willpower to keep it going. Chances were, they were going to be exhausted when the barrier would come crashing down. But the barrier still had plenty of purposes. It'd drain the enemy's resources trying to take it down. Then again, they were dealing with two armies, and if he understood their tactics well enough from how things went during the war, Mordache would probably wait until Sentrian bandits broke their way through first to tire the Learanian defenders, then overwhelm them. If they could deal with the bandits quickly before the magic users tired out, they could probably use the openings in the barriers the Sentrians made against the Mordacheans.

Wishful thinking, but hey, it could work... maybe.

Roy watched as the barrier went up, watching with silent awe at the concentration the mages in his group were putting to make this barrier sturdy. It wasn't long before some large flaming boulders crashed into the barrier, but failed to do so much as make a dent. Impressive... It didn't take long for the enemy to realize their efforts were meaningless, as they stopped launching the projectiles. If long range didn't work... close range was their only other option.

On his person was an Iron sword, the Flame sword, a rapier, and a Steel sword, and an elixir in case things got bad. He hoped he wouldn't need to use the rapier or the Flame sword (that much) until Mordache came, as their forces were mostly armor and horsemen and had some weaknesses to the two.

And thus, the bandits came. Roy rested his hand on the hilt of his Flame sword, readying himself for the inevitable combat. Seems like they broke through the main barrier, and were now proceeding to take out the mages in the smaller barriers to take down the bigger one. In this group that headed for the barrier he and a few others were in charge of protecting, Roy noticed a few somewhat familiar faces. The dark-skinned man, who seemed to swear with every sentence coming out of his vulgar mouth... wasn't he at Feo's fort? Yes... there was no mistaking that. Deborah had fought him, and last he remembered, had kicked his a**. He should thank the bandit for using the Flame sword, as it saved him the trouble of searching for a worthy weapon in the midst of all that treasure to replace the nearly-broken SoS.

There was also a green-haired brat tagging along with the black bandit. If Roy recalled from a year ago, wasn't he the kid in the cowsuit? Huh... he knew he was forgetting something, but for them to forget about the cowsuit kid was a pretty bad move of theirs. Helping comrades was part of the guild's creed, wasn't it? For them to forget a comrade is basically going against their very existence as an organization.

A big-a** and ugly as sin bandit was now walking towards the barrier, wielding the largest hammer the redhead had ever laid his eyes on. The hammer went up as the large bandit (with Jaren inconspicuously stuck to his back) charged towards them.

"Brace yourselves!" Roy shouted to his allies, his arm moving up to shield his head from the imminent destruction of their shield.

Hammer met shield, and their magical defense crumbled against the sheer weight of the blow. As bits and pieces of their barrier fell, Roy had unsheathed the Flame sword. Things would not end well if that behemoth attacked again. Fire billowed around the blade before he swung towards the ugly b*****d.

"Explosion!" he said, and moments later, a burst of flame exploded in the hammer-wielding giant's face. Hopefully, it blinded him so that he would stagger backwards in hopes of getting away from the flames and bump into the charging bandits. The young lord grimaced slightly, but he hoped he and the others here with him could at least deal with this bunch without suffering too many casualties.

The barrier had failed... The plan had failed. She threw the staff they had given her to the ground. "Useless thing!" she muttered. As Lord Zeon began to walk away, she turned to look at him helplessly. Where was he going?! He told her what he was going to do... and left her alone. It made sense for him to go and protect the king. But... now what?

She stood, lost, for a moment, then picked Sophos up from the ground where it lie next to the one she had thrown. She had wanted to use Sophos for the barrier, but the others seemed not to want her to.

Chaos had erupted. She looked around her. First thing to do would be to leave the castle. She had to get to the town gates to stop the armies from getting through somehow...

She made her way out, but she knew she couldn't do it alone.

(Sorry for breaking character here but come on guys... we need to keep the bad guys out of the town. Get this rolling, lets finish what we started, go go go! Together we Ride, right?)

The barrier coming up, and then crashing down really had no effect on Kiote or Grave in the slightest. Kiote still hadn't moved from his spot on sitting on a crate watching the wyvern's take to the sky. Kiote closed his eyes for a moment as he reclined against the nearby wall before letting out a sigh. There was a good deal of pause, then the sound of clicking nails on the ground. Kiote slowly opened his eyes as he looked over at the very large dark wolf approaching him. Kiote stared at the wolf for a moment before nodding as he jumped up onto his feet. It was time then. Kiote had purposely hung back from the fighting at the start, mainly because he wasn't technically apart of this guild that was spoken so highly of, and also because he wasn't too keen on fighting. Still, Kiote figured he had nothing to lose here, and Grave seemed to be trying to find a place for the two of them to fit in. The least Kiote could do was try. No one could blame him for that. "Let's go then, Grave."

And with that Kiote was following the dark wolf as it padded its way down the street in the direction of the fighting. Kiote and Grave did not take long to find signs of fighting. Grave, giving only a momentary growl at Kiote, took off as the two approached the breach in the line. Kiote pulled out his bow as he let out a sigh, pulling an arrow to the string as he took aim. "Grave, I hope your decision to protect the gate doesn't get us killed." Kiote mummbled as he fired off the arrow, pulling a second arrow to the string and firing a second later. Kiote was no sniper, but he certainly had some aim with that bow of his. His first arrow found it's mark, piercing the shoulder of the unsuspecting bandit. The second, aimed for the chest, cut just below the neck line. Kiote's eyes took notice of Grave cutting his own path through the bodies. Without pause, Kiote's aim changed and picked off a target after Grave.

Kiote's sharp shooting came to an end rather quickly as one of the bandits made their approach. Kiote pulled his bow over his shoulder as he drew forth a steel sword, a replacement for Verson. Kiote did not wish to overuse the two blades, hence why Kiote had purchased a steel sword. Kiote blocked the initial attack from the Bandit before flicking the blade out and countering. Blade met blade before Kiote jumped back, flicking his blade lightly in his hand. Maybe his small training with a sword wouldn't come to nothing after all.

From the point of leaving Kiote, Grave had very little idea of what he was going to do. Simply put, Grave's target was to aid those already fighting and give them a chance to recover. Grave's first target managed to see him coming at first, earning Grave nick on his side, but quickly Grave turned that around and claimed the man's life. After that Grave barely noticed that Kiote was under attack, but by this point Grave had his own problems to worry about. Grave was almost on the front lines of the fighting now, and being worried about Kiote would only get him hurt.

((A post to just post something >.>))

Ignis Draconis sum. Thema fabulae, thema apologi.
c** igne sacrō, Flametongue, (prō amicīs pugnō) prō pace volō.

Fire Dragon

The time for critical action grew ever nearer, about to dawn: Learania’s magical barrier had been erected, they’d played their gambits to request help from Estarcia and Adliana, and everyone in the great city itself was in ready to make their stand in defense of a home worth fighting for. They needed to be too, with Mordache and Sentria both in place to overtake Eyris. Indeed, the fate of Learania’s future and as well as that of all its citizenry (well, the citizenry that couldn’t easily abandon the country, at least…which describes most people) would be determined on this day? Could one imagine anything more dramatic for the endgame chapter of a Guildaversary event (yes, because it’s the imagination, but I’m digressing again)?

FD, too, was poised to defend the place where he and Nils had made so many wonderful friends, had fallen in love with one another, had united with family. And even though he still considered the new ‘King’ of Learania largely unreliable and unqualified, with the bullshit-laws and Rogvald out of the way, the dragon considered sticking around worthwhile for now. Especially now; he couldn’t just abandon all the people he had come to care about since he arrived in this world when they were being assaulted by two countries simultaneously. No, FD would fight. He would fight for everything and everyone important in his new life here in Learania, and he would do so with the ferocity one would expect of a Fire Dragon of the Scouring.

FD was still grounded in his human form when Mordache and Sentria initiated their offense to eliminate the great barrier protecting Eyris, close to the barracks Learania’s wyvern riding forces would momentarily be deployed from, calm, composed, and determined at the moment. Although not an official member of the country’s military, the dragon had collaborated in battle with their Wyvern Riders and their leader, Vaida, a number of times in the past, always with productive results. So it seemed only natural to foster the synergy they had with one another in battle to FD. It wasn’t long before the barrier was brought down by their enemies’ efforts, but with its demise came the opportunity to retaliate. As soon he heard the battle cries boom from within the barracks, he began his walk westwards. Moments later, all of Learania’s Wyvern Rider forces took to the air, boulders in the grips of the wyverns, no doubt to drop upon their enemies. It was then that the Fire Dragon assumed his magnificent natural form and soared into the same sky as the Wyvern Riders. He went westward; towards the enormous army of Mordache he could see from such an elevated altitude. Their dense numbers considered, Flametongue would definitely be put to good use in a crucial battle such as this. As FD was closing the distance between himself and his soon-to-be Flametongue targets in shiny ebon armor, the dragon found himself accompanied by a substantial number of wyvern units lead by Mihira and a man FD didn’t know the name of (Zeiss). Excellent; together, they’d be a symphony of aerial attackers capable of eliminating hordes of opponents at a time.

Finally, the time to take action was here. The Fire Dragon quickly swerved southwest until he was just beyond the expanse of Mordacheans before turning yet again, northwards this time. Near neither their vanguard nor rearguard, the dragon unleashed a heavy blast of Flametongue along the middle of Mordache’s approaching troops, eliminating numerous clusters of soldiers along the way. Flametongue was extremely valuable in this instance: when there were so many Mordacheans clustered together his fiery attack didn’t scorch the ground itself it meant more fatalities for the enemy and when that wasn’t the case it meant Mordache now had sections of fire to put out to continue their advancement. Combined with the boulders being dropped all around by the Wyvern Riders, one could hardly call Learania’s aerial units unproductive.

(Blythe and Avery, and possibly Nils, posts coming soon - as NEW posts)

Damn. The attack didn't bring down the behemoth, but it did piss it off quite a bit. Maybe blasts of fire to the face was not the smartest move on brain-damaged individuals. The redhead backed away from the giant's hammer, narrowly evading a strike that would have caused some considerate damage. He could only hope that there was someone who could take Iguldra down before there was any more damage.

A bandit swung his sword down at the young lord, and he brushed the blow aside with his own weapon. While the parried bandit was still standing by his side, he pulled his leg towards his opposite side and kicked out towards the side of the bandit's knee. The bandit fell to his good knee, and a single swing later, his head rolled off his shoulders. It seemed like the bandits were targeting the mage, so it seemed like a good idea to cover them. Except... he was already dead. Crap. What the hell were the other Learanians doing?

Out of the bandits here, only the big guy and the black man were potentially the most dangerous. And speaking of the black man... where the hell did he go? The only possible location he could be was behind the redhead, and so he spun around, swinging the sword. And it was a good thing he did, for the black man had tried to stab him. With the swing, he managed to stop the sword from impaling him. And now the black man accused him of being a thief. He had an idea what the cursing token was talking about, so he decided to respond to that accusation.

"Don't associate me with the likes of you. And besides, you and that big guy lost that fight. Your fault for dropping THIS." Roy said, throwing a punch at Ali on the last word.