For the Glory of Baccus Offical Mini-Event RP Thread

"So it might be a sign or might just be a trick my mind is playing me." Jareth thought as he returned to the camp.

"There is no need thinking about the dream, it will happen or it will not happen. We are the ones creating our future and noone else" Jareth said to himself to calm him down a bit and give him at least a bit peace of mind.

Jareth saw Lok training with his Staff and went over to him to tell him about the training they are planning. He didn't look like he needed training as he whirled around with his staff but it wouldn't be bad for him either.

Lok stopped training with the staff when he heard Jareth's voice

"A run? Great! A good way to keep us alert.

Lok then started to follow Jareth while he was informing the men, as did the men hes informed.

Quite a group amassed behind Jareth as he was collecting his men for the training. He joined up with Lucius, Marcus and Mitchells men.

"Good day to you men." Jareth paused a second until the speaking stopped."Even though we have a nice view up here and the weather is fine there is no need to sit around and do nothing. We have some time to cover until we can get into the city so lets start with a run."

Jareth turned around and pointed with his hand into the distance to a big tree.
"You all see that tree over there on that hill? This will be our turning point. Everyone give your best and try to keep up, our Grandmasters are watching."

Jareth glanced one last time over the men and then started running at a medium pace. The noise they made nearly drowned everything around.

Jareth screamed over the noise "Come on men, show me that you Pendorians can keep up with someone trained in Barclay"

"That will give them a reason continue and not just give up" He thought

Lok pushed himself to his best running speed and kept going and shouted over the noise

"Some of my fathers jerky goes to the best runner as well!"

Jareth's voiced boomed. "Silence in the Ranks, everyone who has enough power to speak has enough power to run."

Jareth increased his pace as they were nearing the turning point.As they turned around the Tree he saw that all men were still together in a group and noone was too far behind.

"This was the first quarter men. Show me what you can do"

After two hours of running in full armor most of the men are really exhausted. Jareth decided to stop 200 meters before the big tree. He rallied the around him and waited until everyone stopped talking.

"I am proud of you men, but we are not done yet. Half of you will go up to that tree and start Javelin practice Jareth pointed to his left to the big tree I don't want you to hit hard, I want you to aim and hit the same spot over and over again. Is that understood?"

Jareth waited for the murmur to stop and continued

"The other half will stay here with me and we will train close combat, with swords, stones, sticks or your bare hands."

Jareth turned to Lucius who was standing close to him

"Lucius if you would be so kind and oversee the Javelin training I would be happy. Please choose the men you seem fit for this"

Lucius went off with some of the men for the Javelin training after that Jareth turned to the rest of the men.

"Ok men, form a wide circle around me and take a close look"

Jareth then asked one of the men forward to show the rest how to defend without weapons. He told his training partner to take a sword and start making overhead swings. Jareth avoided each swing by slightly stepping to the left or right in a fluid motion.

"That's how to avoid being hit, but you can't do that forever. Pay attention to my movement now."

His training partner attacked once more with an overhead swing, Jareth avoided to the left, as the blade reached the lowest point he grabbed the hand and arm of the attacker and quickly twisted it around so that the Sword came loose and he could grab it for himself.

"I hope you all payed attention, but for the slow of you I will show it again"

Jareth showed the procedure again and then told everyone to make teams of two and practice it for the next 20 minutes.

Lok went up to Jareth after he was done with the unarmed combat

"Hey comrade, would you mind if i show some of the men that are lacking some pole-arms training a few tricks? I Promise it wont be time squandered. I would teach them how to best utilize the range of the weapon and such."

"No problem Lok, you are the best one I saw with the polearm. We might need the range if we have to defend on the wall. And perhaps I can learn a few tricks as well." Jareth grinned and then told the men to stop the training for now and gather around him and Lok.

"So men we are not done yet with the training. Our friend Lok will show us some tricks with the polearm. So listen closely and keep a sharp eye"

(OOC: long one with pretty much the extent of my knowledge on this subject. I wouldn't be surprised if i made some major errors, if so tell me in the OOC thread and ill correct them)

Lok grinned and addressed the men as he was fixing the glaive head on his staff

"Ok men, i'm going to assume you all know how to use the pointy end and skip that."

A few laughs were heard and Lok moved on

"The main thing you need to watch when using a pole-arm whether its a halberd or a glaive is range. As it is a longer weapon if the enemy gets within sword range with you you will have a harder time hitting him and he will have an easier one hitting you. I see we are all mostly armed with glaives here. I prefer halberds with a blade at the top that can be used for stabbing as well as the main cutting head. As we have glaives we will have a bit more problem stabbing than slashing. The enemy will be expecting those of you with glaives to be cutting and slashing, which is what you should be doing but remember to try and keep them off balance and stab as-well."

Lok looked around and then began getting into position to demonstrate things

"Now another thing to remember with pole-arms is that if the enemy can flank you he could possibly disarm you much easier than the demonstration Jareth showed us earlier with a sword. Remember to keep your weapon secure in your hands."

Lok points to a legionaire with a sword

"You, try to get in range of just my staff, i will take the head off."

Lok takes the head of the staff off and secures it to his waist

Lok and the man both battle, the man trying to get in range and Lok knocking him back each time

"As you can see, if you can keep the enemy away from striking distance with you, the pole-arm is the superior weapon. We don't have time to teach you how to use it without the shield as i was right now, but it should be adequate for you men in the defense of the city. As far as i can tell from the demonstrations of siege defense you want to just have the enemy break upon you. If there is a man with a sword next to you battling the enemy help him when possible and if a man with a pole-arm next to you try to stay at the same distance from the enemy as him.. Unless Marcus has us in different formations, but that is a field battle thing."

Lok points to Jareth with his hand and talks to the men

"I now hand you off to Jareth"

"Thank you very much for the demonstration Lok."

Jareth makes a quick glance at Lok and then turns to the men in front of him.

"Men that shows you that there are a lot of different weapons out there and if you happen to fight against an weapons expert, don't get your hopes up that these tricks work. They know them all. The only thing important at this point is how long and hard you can hit on your enemy."

Jareth turns around facing the encampment of the Legion troops and thinks a moment about what will happen the next few days and if he would survive or if he helped some of his comrades to survive the next days. He noticed a bit to late that all men were still looking at him waiting for him to talk so he turned quickly around again and started speaking with a smile on his face.

"So men, the last thing for today is just relax. Sharpen your swords, polish your armor and gather your strenght for the days to come. Pray to whatever god you belive in, we may have need of them sooner than we think."

He dismissed the men and then turned back to the encampment, in the distance he saw Cez surrounded by darkness and even farther the raging sea. He sat down trying to relax and get a little bit of sunlight before they would march again towards Cez.

(OOC: added a way to keep the roleplay going after this post at the end.)

Lok looked over his armor and the faded red stains on the fur portion of his armor were there. He smiled knowing none of it was his, or wine. He try's every day to get it out but has accepted that its there to stay.He got his friend and trusted scribe to write a letter to his father

Hello father, i am not dead yet as uncle predicted. The staff is still in my safekeeping.I have been having dreams of cats lately like the shaman said i would before grandfather left the Mystmountains. I still don't think i would have made a good shaman. It doesn't matter, I am a Legion member now and forever. I will even fight the men from grandfathers old clan if i have to. Our family is Pendorian and i intend to protect us and the people of this land against the snake cult and any other threat. The warriors here are all very nice and accepting. Sometimes my armor draws attention but nobody says anything of it. And if i may say so, i think these warriors are even stronger than the dragon knights near our village. In our ranks is a Centurion from barclay, whom i have befriended and i even taught some polearm tips and tricks to the men with his permission. As i am dictating this i am looking at the great city of Cez. I cant tell why i am here but you shall find out soon enough even as far removed from Cez as you are. As soon as we are done i will endeavor to write to you. I have been meaning to learn to read and write but with the marching and training i have no time. Do not worry though, i am deadly as ever with polearms and my javelins are starting to hit their marks more often these days. If only the boys in the militia and army could see me now. Anyways father i will write you soon.

Lok noticed Jareth sitting down and approached him

"Hello comrade, i haven't had time to ask you what Mitchell thought of the dreams? Does it mean as i hope and that the snake cult will attack the city and not the villages like cowards?"

Jareth was still staring towards Cez and sunken deep in thought as Lok approached him.

"Hello Lok, Mitchell didn't say much about the dreams, either they will come true or not, it is not for us to know what the future holds."

Jareth stands up and cleans his armor of grass and dirt with his hands

"As for the Snake Cult" Jareth takes some time to order his thoughts "I think they will have to attack the city. If they just raid the villages or move further inland they will have Cez in their backs. We would cut of their supply and burn their ships. They would have no way back and not enough to eat.

"They must take this city to have a Beachhead in Pendor. The longer they wait the more time Ethos, Janos or Sarleon have to react to this threat to Pendor. They must act fast and with force, and Cez will be the place where the force will be strongest."

Jareth shakes his head and then looks at Lok with a smile.

"Enough of this grim talk, I have to go to our Grandmaster and report to him about the training. Will you join me?"

"Ah comrade, those are some very good points and i think you are right.Let them come to us and they will see why you don't attack Pendor. One more thing to remember comrade, is that it is best they attack us! I'd like to see any of the other orders handle them when they have no experience handling them. Can you imagine the dawn or any other order and the snake cult? Now THAT is very grim talk. I will accompany you, i have to drop off a letter to our postmaster on the way anyways."

Jareth and Lok went down the hill into the Encampment. Left and right they saw the men polishing their armor and sharpening their Swords. Some they even saw writing letters to their relatives. Everyone was doing something. Horses were being led to the smith to get new horseshoes, some men were standing in a line in front of the Quartermasters tent to get new supplies, but the only sound you could hear was that of ten or more Ravens circling over the encampment, waiting for the storm to calm down.

Jareth and Lok saw the Grandmasters tent a few meters down the muddy road. Two Shadow Legionaires were standing Guard in front of the entrance. The Grandmasters tent was right in the middle of the encampment so the most movement of men and animal was here. The ground was even muddier here.

"It would be a tough march if it starts to rain again, I am sinking into the ground until my ankles." Jareth said to Lok as they waited for a Horsecart to move slowly by in front of them.

Lok motions to a man with his face covered and whispers to Jareth

"You ever seen that man before? I never have. Granted we are a large order but someone with his... Looks would have been memorable. Think we should go talk to him after we meet with the grandmasters?"

Jareth looks into the direction Lok was pointing and saw the man standing still as stone, his face covered in darkness from the hood over his head.

"You are right Lok, I have never seen him before. He seems a bit odd. The sun is out after nearly a week of rain and he is covering his face. Too obvious for a spy" Jareth said to Lok with a big smile in his face.

The Horse Cart has moved past them and the way was now clear to the tent of the Grandmasters.

"Well lets not keep the grandmasters waiting. We can meet that man afterwards eh?"

Lok and Jareth moved to the grandmasters tent and informed the guards they were here to report

Marcus walked over to the tents and saw a huge line of horse carriages and men trying to be the first. They seemed to be heading towards the main camp.

Marcus began investigating on the matter.

"What is going on? Where are you all going to?"

Marcus asked a lone rider who was following a horse carriage.

The rider turned to Marcus and answered: "Yes, Shadow Fighter, I thought you'd know it better than we do. Didn't you order us to go to the main camp with this food and this ale?"

Marcus smiled. Lucan was one of the newer legionnaries, who had yet to learn to respect their leaders. "About time for him to learn his place", Marcus thought as he answered to the rider.

"Damn that Lucan.", he laughed and ran to the main camp.

Marcus saw a large bonfire and drunken men around it listening to a large, black-haired legionary.

"..Yeah, and then I said to the quartermaster: "These orders are from the Grandmaster himself! Would you defy his orders? Now bring us that food and mead, the men are hungry!"

The men laughed...until Marcus appeared behind Lucan. Marcus patted Lucan's back.

Lucan turned around and was about to jump to the air. But luckily he just backed off a few steps, accompanied by a laughter from amongst the men.

"Hmm! I thought you were going to celebrate something? It is not illegal here, but you need to have a potential reason for it."

One of the veteran legionnaries shouted:

"Let's celebrate the beginning of yet another war! We haven't had those in a while."

Lucan smiled lightly and supported his idea. At least now he has a reason for his little feast. Lucan added: "I just wanted to hold a feast for all of us to attend. Not for myself only, the rest too."

Marcus smiled in return.

"Very well, Lucan. You can celebrate, men. But I have a special task for you, Lucan. I need you to scout the southern shores with Arngar and Jorleif. You will be in command of the operation. Do not return until you have scouted the area fully and remember to report every detail."

Lucan left to seek the other scouts.

"That should teach him a lesson", Marcus thought.

Johan had noticed the two knights watching him but he didn't care. He took out his pipe under the robes and started filling it with herbs. After he lighted it up at the nearby fire he felt the relaxation and pain goes away. He started walking towards the knights still smoking his pipe.

He was near the knights when he said to them:"It's rude to stare someone like that, it might get you a broken nose and then i'd have to patch you up. So try to be more subtle next time."

Johan started turning around and at the same time flashed part of his burned face to the knights and started slowly walking towards nearby campfire.

"I'm sorry for staring, i was just curious as to who you were. No offense was intended. I assume by your words you are a healer? That is good. I also think you will find trying to shock people here with your face wont work as well as it will with villagers, I'm sure most of us have seen things like that before. Still though, nice to meet you. My name is Lok and this is Jareth. If you don't want to tell us your name that is fine, but i bet you would like us if you gave us a chance. Once again my apologies."