Ratlin opens his eyes but only a bit, awakened by the shout. He does not move but listens intently and readies his spell.
Zifnab awakens with a start. Obeying the order, he carefully steps away from his weapons, that had been by his side while he slept,... but he also thus steps away from the fire and the firelight, towards the shadows. He will then slowly attempt to creep away slowly, and hide himself in the shadows, trusting his companions, with their usual big mouth, will provide distraction...
Pietro slowly wakes up, looking pretty astonished. He gets up slowly, leaving his staff on the ground. While getting up, Pietro gets his sling and a stone, but he just holds them in his hands, doing nothing with them.
Hearing rustling very close to his edge of the clearing, and realizing he has obviously been spotted, Daegwyn forces Nix and Hep from their pouch and onto the ground. He then uses his staff to lift himself up, leaning lightly on the staff as he stands.
Caboto lay still under his bedroll, pretending to be asleep.
Arkady's eyes pop open but he doesn't immediately move when he hears the voice. Hearing all the instructions given, Arkady rolls over on top of his maine gauche and tries to conceal it as he struggles into his boots. He does this by flopping his blankets up and acting as if he's tangled and confused. He also checks that his boot knife is still in there. Once his boots are on and his weapons are concealed, Arkady stands and walks towards the others.
The boot knife is still there, and like several others, Arkady manages to hold his weapon against his wrist.
Acting like Arkady's action were what awoke him, Ratlin slowly stands and moves away from the fire. He stands in a position facing the strangers with a clear shot from him to them, his hands in front of him inside his sleeves.
Rhees hopes that the darkness and the confusion kept his companions or the enemy in the woods from noticing his less-than-glorious awakening. Seeing the others spreading out rather than grouping together, he follows their example. As he draws on his cloak, he addresses his companions in elvish as quietly as he can while still being heard by them, "Has anyone any idea of our foes numbers, rustling in the bushes can easily be made to appear as a greater number."
Manus slowly wakes and sits up upon the request of the voice. He longingly looks at his sparth axe and mail armor lying on the ground. He walks a few paces from his equipment and yells to the voice..."Who is your master and what does he want with a weary party of travelers?"
As Arkady walks forward he speaks. "Why do you accost us? We are simply traveling and you shoot my comrade and take us prisoner. Why?" Arkady makes no movements that could be interpreted as hostile as he questions the unseen figures.
The same voice answers, "You are in no position to ask questions. I'll ask the questions here. One by one, you will walk into the forest directly across from me. First, the bearded midgets, then the women, elves first, then the elf men, then the humans." When no one immediately responds, he yells out, "Now! Or my men get some target practice. If anyone resists or makes any queer movements, they'll be the first target, but we'll also target the women and the wounded. I guarantee you that the price you'll pay will be dear, whereas if you come quietly, you may all get out of this alive." He pauses for just a moment, "Now move it!"
Wondering what to do, Forte decides to keep "sleeping" until someone approaches him to wake him up.
At the commanding of the voice, Plebius half way sat up from his state of slumber and looked around, curious what the disturbance was about.
Ullar just stands still, eyeing what the others are going to do. His large body not really suited for stealth actions, he tries to listen at his best ability if there is any sound near him. He keeps quiet, saying nothing.
Rhune just looks at Ullar then starts to move a little...she is breathing hard trying to get her breath back
Now fully awake, Ullar tries to stay calm. "I need my armor, that's for sure" he thinks to himself, reconsidering the many times the armor saved him from any damage.
Amibar swallows a lump in his throat, realizing he is supposed to go first, according to the disembodied voice. He looks pleadingly at Ullar, taking a few hesitant steps forward, then stopping again, not sure what to do. " Ullar?" he says weakly, "Should I do as he says?".
The warrior nods to his little friend, trying to give him a reassuring look, although he feels quite uncertain himself about the whole situation.
Wishing he was somewhere else, Ami makes his way hesitantly towards the woods, peering through the darkness, trying to make out the forms of their aggressors.
Rhune waits for the gnomes to move out, then will follow...being very careful to move slowly and to keep her hands away from the sword...She keeps very much alert for any chance to strike back. Watching the others closely and hoping that Dakath is out of harms way and has something up his sleeve.
An arrow comes whistling past Rhune, narrowly missing her and Asif both. The voice yells out, "Drop the sword, bitch!" Rhune moves to comply.
Tolik looks around but sees there is no one he can talk to about the situation without being overheard. He calls out to the voice in the darkness, "How are we to move the wounded? We cannot leave them here. And no one can carry the larger humans alone. Yet to carry them by twos would seem to violate your demands?" His hoarse voice barley pierces the night, and it gives little information about the heavily cloaked elf.
Having finished his speech he stands, not moving until sure that all of the wounded will be moved. Realizing he cannot carry anyone by himself, he does not make a move to help move the injured unless asked.
Caboto rises to a crouch as Tolik speaks, and nods appreciatively to him. "Wisely said" he calls in a whisper.
The voice responds, obviously somewhat put off "If they cannot walk, then...you shall carry them." The voice seems to quaver a bit, as if this had not occurred to the speaker.
Crouching quietly behind the flames, in his bed roll, Tag silently collects what he needs from his saddle bags near by and begins to mutter the words of power. A dull eager glow comes into his eyes and an eerie feeling comes over those close by as he conducts a silent orchestra , his hands weaving a thread of magic into the need for the groups survival which is heavy on Tag's heart.
"KILL SLAY MAIM" the red voice says, it's whisper insistent and nagging since it was not quenched earlier. Arkady shakes his head as if to clear it and begins to walk forward to the voice.
From behind the attackers can be heard gradually approaching the sound of armed men. The crunch of booted feet marching through the underbrush, The clank of shields and armor. Swords can be heard sliding from scabbards and the whiny of horses and hooves skittish and poised for battle. A murmur of gruff voices grunting with exertion and growling in surprise and dismay. The sound gradually grows in volume for a minute or so and then suddenly a horn rings out a note of rally clear and menacing. A voice of command sounds clearly above the growing cacophony. "Quickly men, draw up your lines Lord Ullar's men are under attack." The noise continues as if a battle line is being drawn. "Courage and honor friends, wait for my signal. Take out the archers first." The clash of swords on shields the howl of the war band ready to deal death to its enemies. "No prisoners!!! Now men charge!!" A mighty war cry goes up and you can hear the heavily armed band come charging towards the enemy.
The voice from the forest cries out, clearly in a panic, "Attack! Kill them all!"
In the confusion and mayhem Tags voice cries above the din. "Counter attack now while they are distracted my friends."
As soon as he sees that he is with in charging range of an archer, Arkady charges screaming as loud and bloodcurdling as he can. "SSSSMMMMMEEEEEERRRRTTT!!!!*" Arkady lunges forward towards the figure with his main gauche. The red voice cackles and bubbles with mirth. "death and slaughter, ha ha ha ha, Feed ME!!"
*Smert is Russian for Death
Pietro's reaction is very fast after Arkady's outburst. As Arkady rushes past him, Pietro moves one arm up, and is about to say something when he suddenly changes his mind. He just looks at Arkady and shouts a single command at the rushing human. "Fall!". As soon as Pietro said his command to Arkady, he lunges his elven body away from the fire, falling on the ground and rolling away as fast as possible.
In his frenzied state, Arkady totally ignores Pietro's command, which rings out with the resonant sound of magic. Pietro barely manages to avoid an arrow which flies out immediately after he casts the spell. He touches his head and feels blood from the arrow, which narrowly missed ending his life.
At the same time, a flight of arrows wings out from all sides. One sails high over Arkady's head and as he rushes into the forest, several close by hear the hurried footsteps of the speaker as he runs from the terrifying berserk Russian. Arkady rushes after him with his main gauche bared in his hand.
The arrows seem targeted on the non-humans for the most part, though in the chaos it is hard to tell.
Tag keeps up the mysterious illusion of a dozen warriors approaching from behind the enemy in hope they will be fooled and divert their attacks in the darkness and confusion.
Ratlin begins to move towards the forest pulling his hands from his robes. He starts a bit from Arkady's outburst and smirks. He turns towards the source of the voices and flames shoot from his fingertips hoping that the spell will injure some and more importantly confuse them.
Unable to target the source of the voice as Arkady is in his way, Ratlin turns close by and flames shoot into the dark forest. Immediately several branches catch fire, leaves crackling, though he cannot hear the sound of any archers caught within the blaze. Serving well to block any attacks in the direction of the speaker, and totally foiling the elves infravision, it seems to have the added bonus of starting a minor forest fire!
Tag silently curses as his ruse is uncovered by the light from the fire showing his 'army' to be nothing but noise. He lets go the spell and starts to load his crossbow to take out any survivors.
Taking the hint that some mysterious working of heka is taking place to distract the unseen enemy, Asif draws forth his twin scimitars and charges forward bellowing an Arabic war cry of his people..
"ATEN IS GREAT! ATEN IS GREAT! ... FLEE INFIDELS!!"
Ullar's eyes widen by whatever trick Taglio pulled here. Quickly he comes to action, grabs Forte's GreatSword and starts moving into the bushes, away from the sound Tag is making and in the meantime sheathing his dagger again.
"Ami, get here!" he calls out to the little gnome, feeling quite responsible for him.
Confused at first, Amibar quickly realizes Tag's deception, and decides staying close to "Lord" Ullar isn't such a bad idea. "Coming, m'Lord!" He calls, and makes haste to follow the charging warrior.
As he retreats toward Ullar, an arrow hits Amibar in the back, frightening both he and Ullar, but the doughty fellow shrugs off the glancing blow and comes in behind the big human.
However, his fellow gnome, Zifnab, is not so lucky, being struck by a pair of arrows in both legs. He falls gasping in pain. At the same time, both of the Vyalia elves, quiet at the edge of camp, are hit in the chest with arrows and fall to the ground.
Ullar rushes into the woods to prevent any more bow fire, but sees that he has come up between positions, as no target immediately presents itself to his sword.
Rhune hears the men approach and smiles...then sees Ullar spring into action...quickly dodging back into the forest and around a tree, she draws her longsword and attempts to move as quietly as possible toward the sound of the voices, hoping this time that she is far more quiet. if she makes to one she will attempt to backstab, if not simply fight
Rhune feels the impact of an arrow hitting her in the chest as she dodges into the forest, but her chainmail manages to save her from being punctured. Nasty bruise, though.
"Bloodthirsty humans!" Tolik cries, seeing the Russian charge. He doesn't understand the language, but he knows the tone. "Someone put out the fire!" he shouts, then runs low to the ground for the trees. When he finds cover, he uses his infravison to find a target and hits it with a magic missile.
Tolik also proves a target for the archers, and he feels the sharp impact of an arrow hitting him in the left leg. He stumbles into the forest, but Ratlin's forest fire has caused havoc with his elven vision and he cannot immediately refocus himself.
Giovani Caboto's eyes turned to saucers in surprise at the explosion of energy from his Russian companion and Tolik's rapid response. "Holy mother of God" the explorer gasps, diving to the ground. Crawling, Giovani heads in Tolik's direction.
And barges right in front of the archer that just shot at Tolik! Before the fellow can reload, Giovani fires an energy bolt from his fingers at the man, knocking him backward. As the archer drops his bow, he reaches for the sword at his belt, but a second magical bolt from the ground nearby knocks him down and out before he can.
After finishing his spell, Tolik scans the area around him and sees Caboto. Taking a risk, he call out softly to the man. "Over here."
Running low, so as to present a smaller target, Rhees heads for the fire. Running by where he was sleeping he grabs one of his blankets and uses it to put out the fire. That done (OOC: and hopefully not looking anything like a pin cushion) he rushes to grab his spear and shield and cast a longing look at his armor.
Forte gets up from the ground and then grabs his mace with his left (useable) arm. The warrior's jaw is clenched in anger, but frustration at his uselessness soon overwhelms all other emotions. "Dammit!" he hisses at the ground, but he is able to resist throwing his mace down in disgust. Forte walks over to the fire, and starts to extinguish it as best he can.
Rhees and Forte put out the fire, making them less a target, but Ratlin's fire still sheds plenty of light, and will be considerably harder to put out.
Upon the outbreak of fighting, Plebius retains his position but readies himself to cast a spell if needed, or tend to wounded.
Manus takes advantage of the darkness by Rhees' hands and drops to his haunches, rolls back and to the right to grab his sparth axe. Clad in only a linen shirt and short breeches the galloglaich springs to his feet holding his weapon in both hands. Like Rhees he also looks longingly at his armor but can do little to change the situation.
He charges behind Arkady running full speed then at the last moment before catching the Russian, breaks off to the right into the darkness swinging his great pole axe. He slips into his native tongue bellowing..."Mei sibh illig le tua!"(F**k you all with an axe!)
Asif forges ahead into the darkness, leaping over a fallen brow his eyes move rapidly to the left and right looking for the unseen enemy. Moonlight dances along his unsheathed blades, glowing slightly as they do with the red aura from the ore from which they where made. Taking cover behind a tree, he looks towards Rhune his eyes asking an unspoken question.
--- where are they?
He doesn't have to look long, as he marches almost immediately into one of the archers. Completely bald, he looks oddly familiar. However, Asif has no time for talk, and attacks the fellow. Silently, the archer drops his bow and draws his own sword, dodging Asif's hurried attacks.
The majority of the arrows stop flying as the archers, with uniform silence, drop their bows and bring forward short swords to combat those rushing into the forest.
Ullar quickly finds one of them and smashes him down with Forte's sword, nearly cutting the fellow in half. Manus is not so lucky with his great axe, as he misses the archer he finds badly. Fortunately, his opponent does not seem any more competent, and misses as well.
Asif hacks down his foe with a flashing red scimitar. Nearby, Rhune lunges at another, but narrowly misses him. The bald, silent fellow's return strike is easily dodged, however.
Two of the archers have stayed firing, separated somewhat from the mayhem, and two arrows come sailing toward Rhees, hitting him in the shoulder and belly. Grievous wounds, they are, and Rhees tumbles toward the comforting forest to avoid any more. Pietro is the other archer's chosen target, as he looks about, and he is hit in the back of one calf and in the back of the same thigh, knocking him down.
Ullar and Asif move toward the remaining archers, and find themselves targeted as well. Having never come close to recovering from his many earlier combats, Ullar proves a nice target, and a pair of arrows take him, dropping him in the forest. Asif hears the satisfying twang of a bowstring snapping, and rushes his target with his scimitars.
With a moan Ullar collapses, grasping for the arrows stuck in his body.
Asif yells angrily as he attacks the frustrated bowman with the broken string. "Speak the last words to your god infidel. Aten's Judgment is now upon you!"
Meanwhile, Rhune lunges and takes her opponent in the stomach, felling him, while Manus manages to receive a similar thrust in the chest, raking against his ribs and narrowly missing his heart. In response the large fellow smashes his opponent's head like a melon with his massive axe.
Behind the fire, Arkady rushes after the speaker with death in his mind and hand. The fellow, clearly panicked from the sounds and mayhem, runs quickly and without caution.
Heading north, Arkady thinks he sees a small figure off to the right, but ignores it as he chases his target. Dakath watches the two rush by with thoughts of a backstab, but they dash by too fast. Looking toward the campsite and seeing things somewhat under control there, he turns and follows the pair.
Arkady is frustrated to see the fellow rush up to a small herd of saddled horses, mounting one quickly. Knowing he is about to lose his chance, he rushes forward, but doesn't catch the fellow, who wheels his horse about and begins to gallop off. Then, in an odd turn of events, he comes sliding, saddle and all, completely off the horse, tumbling to the ground in front of the mad Russian!
Arkady rushes forward and attempts to slam his maine gauche through the speaker's knee. Swiftly drawing his boot knife, Arkady presses it to the man's throat and divests him of his sword. Hissing past his internal chaos Arkady speaks "Ssssuuuurrreennndddeeerr" Arkady gets a good grip on both the knife and the sword.
Missing the man's knee by inches, he slams his weapon into the dirt nearby. He is more successful in disarming the fellow, as he has not even managed to draw his sword yet. He holds his hands up helplessly.
Dakath comes running up to the fallen man, "Well now, I bet you didn't expect that to happen did you ?" He leans down, dagger in hand "Now perhaps you'd better come with us?"
Dakath turns to Arkady "Perhaps you would be good enough to escort our prisoner back to camp whilst I round up their horses." As he wanders off to the horses he chuckles to himself "You should always check your saddle straps."
Arkady listens for signs that the other attackers may return to get their horses. If he hears them he plans to gag the speaker and carry him back to the campsite.
However, there is no such sign. He can hear some people talking, but no combat, and no rushing about.