The Nightmare's Beginning (T-A-B, Gargantua, Pheonix)

[the_taken]

Location: Main Camp

You have been travelling with the army for some time. As it has invaded the fallen Mirafar, the soldiers were once joyful of their easy victories. But as time has passed, they've become uneasy. Even after a hundred years, the horror stories of past armies that have tried to take Mirafar have sunk in. There are whispers of monsters that would haunt the capital during the day, and with the Spawn of the Black Moon weakened, these Nightmares may have taken back the city. They was relief when the orders came to halt their advance, and near joy when the orders to cancel the siege.

But you don't care about phantom legends. The Capital calls to you. It's dark looming expanse is very spooky, but strangely comforting. It was your family's home once, and it will be yours again.

~--- Dawn of the First Day ---~​

Though the sky has brightened, The Sun has yet to break from the horizon. The weather is calm, barely a breeze nor cloud. The sounds of nervous soldiers fills the camp, quietly working on their gear, getting ready for their shifts, practising combat forms, or praying to become exalted.

Awake or not, one of the his assistants has relayed that General Edward Duke wishes to speak with you in his command tent.

G. Duke is an old man, his once black hair has greyed, and his once mighty frame now doesn't fill his armor. Rumour has it he's fought for the IDIs for over seventy years... and still leads charges against them. Edward Duke is an Exalted, and he is always seen wearing The Cape of Reservation.

You've all entered the command tent at the same time, to find the General sitting next to a folding table with a large rolled up sheet or parchment. His assistants are diligently working behind him shuffling piles or parchments and occasionally scribbling something, or whispering to each other. "Good Morning, Exalted Nobles of Mirafar," he greats politely. He is always polite to you, though he has a wicked tongue he reserves for his troops. "I've been ordered to stay our of the city, and that goes for my army as well. But since you're not officially part of my army, that means you can leave the camp and go in yourselves. Since I've also been ordered to have this camp turned into a war town, that means this will make a springboard for your questing."

"I do need to know what's on the other side of the obsidian wall. It's been way too quiet and my troops are getting nervous. We've occasionally had sightings of the Spawn, and there's been some skirmishes between our scouts and wandering zombies."

(Feel free to talk to the General or excuse yourself to leave. But FYI, he gonna ask Triacca to stay after everyone else leaves.)

 

[T-A-B]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Triacca stands at attention and salutes, adopting a very formal military tone.

"Sir! Permission to speak, sir!"

The general nods.

"Is this a scouting mission, sir? Are we to engage if we find significant hostiles, or report back immediately?"

 

[the_taken]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

(In this kinda game, the DM, me, is the only one that describes the NPCs' actions.)

The general nods at the mercenary's request, holding back the urge to roll his eyes. He never actually hired Triacca or her company, though she continually insists on using formal military procedure continuously.

"Scouting mission? No. There is no mission. I've been ordered to dig in here and not to advance any further. I'm just stating the situation," he answers, hinting. "However, I do have a job for the Crimson Bulwark. If you'll wait until this meeting is adjourned, we can discuss the details."

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Alice gives a quick bow and greets the general.

"Good morning, General Duke. Do you have any more intel on the city, or the path to it and the surrounding areas, perhaps? Maybe a city map, from before the fall?

Also, I haven't had time to tour the camp, yet - could you spare someone to show us around, once we're through here?"


(additionally, attempt to eavesdrop on the assistants, and see what I know about the Cape of Reservation)

 

[the_taken]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

"I did send advanced scouts before the orders not siege came in, but there hasn't been any word from them since. But if you look over the horizon at the city, you can see two Black Spires still trying to spew Miasma all over the place," explains with a nearly bored expression on his face. "You can be certain that most of the nightmarish creatures the soldiers have talked about are real, and will be guarding those things. You may even find a Spawn no one has ever seen before.

"Pyynana has attempted to divine images from the fallen city. She says she can't see much, but what she can see is that the magic that the people wielded there has run amok. There no telling what things are lurking in the city now, but it isn't a nice place for the Spawns either."

He lets that sink in a bit before pointing to the rolled up scroll. "About the maps; they're not complete." He taps the scroll and it unrolls itself, covering the table completely. There are many ink etchings of lines, but they are sparse. "There's many old roads that wind about the fields to Mirafar, but they're overgrown. There's also three gates through that black wall, a good hour or so walk from here. The northern most is close to that spooky forest, and apparently goes into some sort of clipped forest, and the northern section of the merchant squares. The Southern most gate, at the base of those imposing mountains, leads into what was once the storage district, where one of those towers is standing, and the slums. The gate between the two leads to the dividing between the slums and merchant squares.

"I wouldn't send my troops into the slums or storage district. Too many enclosed spaces." He comments finishing.

(The assistants are kinda like those nameless people on a the bridge of the USS Enterprise. They are part of the scenery, and only serve to be exploded by consoles for dramatic tension. In this case they are talking about how many swords and arrows they have around the whole army, and it is very unlikely their piles of parchment will do combustion because of a catapult hitting something in the camp.)

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Alice brings her hand up and grasps her chin. "I see. What about the camp, here? Is there anyone you'd recommend we see before we leave?"

---
Meanwhile outside, Daz, Hannibel, and Nete shiver in the cold of the still-dark morning, trying to stifle yawns.

"Aah, hell, couldn't this wait until we'd all woke up an' had breakfast or sommat? We only got here last night.", Daz complains, as he crouches nearest to the tent's entrance, rapidly trying to rub warmth into himself. His head swung from side to side as he watched the camp, occasionally wandering back to the tent's entrance and the guard standing there, watching for Alice.

Next to him stood Nete, yawning almost continually and trying not to doze off; he clutched a blanket, wrapped around him. Furthest from the door stood Hannibel, dressed in a black maid dress, and only looking a little ruffled. She held her hands interlaced, in front of her, with her arms straight, and her eyes closed, ignoring her surroundings. She is in no way or form sleeping. Definitely. Totally.


(Also, do I know anything about his artifact?)

 

[the_taken]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

The general nods. "Since you're set on having a guided tour of the camp, I'll assign one of my assistants to give it to you." He turns to his assistants, all six of whom have turned to find out which lucky bastard would be excused from 'paper cut' duty. "Lieutenant Miles," he addresses one blond haired youth, "you are now assigned to touring duty for the Exalted."

The lieutenant neatly places his pen and papers down, then stands and salutes. "Yes, general, sir." The other assistants frown in disappointment.

General Duke turns back towards you before continuing. "The only information I ask from Pyynana is strategic and tactical things on what's lurking about in Mirafar. She has mentioned catching glimpses of other things, like old shrines, but it's of little use to me since I can't go into the city. You, on the other hand, may be interested in what she knows." He frowns, "You'll also want to know where the medical tents are, encase you get injured. Then there's Daznit, the Food Sargent. He's usually cooking in one of the mess tents, or supervising one of the ration stockpiles."

 

[Pheonix Alugere]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Having stood silent through the beginning of this exchange, the wet-looking young woman standing behind the other two and smelling faintly of honey, Sen Valiere, moves forward. Taking a few glances at the map, She thinks for a bit before speaking. You know, as much as I'd like to check what's in those shrines you mentioned, it's probably safest to stick to finding a way into the city for now. She says before moving a hand to point at some writing on the map near the mountains. Given how close the mountains seem to be to the city, I'm thinking that these old mines might lead close enough to the city to open out into some old cellars or the sewers. Since neither should smell after a hundred years of no use, it might give us a way in around the walls without having to break through. Well... unless we get to use the siege weapons. She finishes, a disturbingly hungry looking gleam in her eyes at the mention of siege weapons.

 

[the_taken]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

The General looks directly at Sen to respond, smiling in approval, though his response isn't positive. "I'm not gonna pull out the siege weapons. Yet. Mirafar's wall is enchanted, and striking it won't do any good. Also, the trebuchets are still packed up. It would take almost a day to set them up. But even if we put them right up against the black wall, they wouldn't be able to fling a stone far enough to reach the nearest black spire.

"But research has been done on sieging Mirafar. Just because every army in history has failed, doesn't mean will. The Black Moon was able to defeat Mirafar's vast military prowess at it's best, but it is now severely weakened. As such, the diabolical tactics that Mirafar employed are not necessary to contend with." He points to each of the three gates on the map. "We know that each gate is some sort of wood construction, enchanted to be more difficult to damage. However, the northern most gate is missing. The archway in the wall is there, but the constructions that ware the gate are missing. That is easiest place to enter. The watch towers can clearly see the south-east most gate," he points to the middle one, "two black wooden doors line with runes and skull motifs. They have been reporting that occasionally the gate opens, but nothing has been spotted going in or out." He points to the southern most gate. "I sent scouts to take a look at this one. They report that it looks like someone started to brick it up from the outside. But as it is now, it's not even an impediment. Still, there's a massive pile of large brick right next to it. The gate is closed. We don't know if it's locked."

(I keep forgetting to mention the artifact. The Cape of Reservation worn by the General is an ancient artifact of the Chau Sara Kingdom, passed down from King to King, until the Black Moon destroyed Chau Sara in it's diplomatic attacks. General Duke claimed the artifact from a particularly difficult to slay soldier of the Black Moon over sixty years ago. Legend has it, the cape promotes health and longevity, and prevents magical mental afflictions. The general doesn't talk about it to anyone.)

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Alice moves aside to let Sen forward to let her speak. When she finishes, she begins another series of questions: "How tall is the wall, again? I've seen my my partner climb straight up a smooth surface before. Unless it's enchanted against that, too, we could possibly scale it if we needed to.

"Ah yes. General, was there a specific area of the city you sent your scouts into?"

 

[the_taken]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

The general's tone returns to business lie. "I've read some crazy things about that wall. Bards seem to think that bigger makes it more poetic. If you ever find anyone or anything that says it reaches up into the heavens, don't believe them. We haven't measured, but the best guess I've got puts it about twelve times the height of a person. Though some people are taller than others." He nods politely to Triacca at the last part. "I don't know if the wall is enchanted against climbing on it. We did bring ladder towers to scale the walls, anyway."

He lets that sink in before listening to the second question. "I sent three squads of scouts, numbering sixteen men in total. Two to scout each Black Spire, and one to map out parts of the city. They were supposed to check in every three days, but that was weeks ago. I've written them off as dead, and I'm forbidden from sending troops in to find them."

 

[Pheonix Alugere]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Well, I will say one thing: I don't care if you have one person who can scale the wall. Just don't expect any of us who can't to help that person out. Plus, I doubt the walls are exactly unguarded. All it would take would be a few arrows to stop any climber. Same goes for the gate as well: stick a few decent archers on the wall, and they'll be able to stop several times their numbers in troops. If we can't use siege engines to at least clear the tops of the walls, our best bet is to try and find an alternate way into the city. Sen remarks basing her proposed tactics off of her knowledge of siege tactics and a rough guess at how many people they could bring to bear on getting to the gates which, given it would only be the three of them and any followers they might have, would be laughably few. Since, really, if the Black Moon has any sort of tactical sense, charging the gate would be suicide. I still vote we try and either go through the mines or any natural caves that might run under the city.

 

[T-A-B]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

"It may be a bit early to start digging through mines," Triacca said in a slightly biting fashion when addressing the elf. "I'd prefer to fight an enemy we can see in the open rather than taking chances with dark mazes. And for all we know, those scouts could be in need of rescue."

 

[Pheonix Alugere]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

That doesn't stop the fact that a group as small as what we can muster won't have any chance of crossing the field to the gates if they have archers, and, quite frankly, I don't want to find out whether or not they have archers by taking an arrow in my gut. The gates aren't an option.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

From off to the side, Alice chimes in; "I'd always thought the wall was a simple slab, but you may have a point, Miss... hmm, Valiere, was it? General, have you or your men noted any movement or activity up on the wall?"

"At the same time, groping about an abandoned mine, hoping that anyone would leave a weak spot in the city's defenses does not seem like a very good plan either, and I doubt we'd be in the condition to scout the city if we went through Mirafar's sewers. And Miss Silver, your men are pikemen, correct? I don't believe they'd be very helpful in such close quarters...

Tapping a finger against her chin, Alice continues. "Either way, I think it would be best if we went out and took a look at the walls and the surroundings first, before we committed to a course of action. Trying to come up with a plan without the full situation to plan around is sure to just get us a fiasco."

 

[the_taken]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

General Duke responds immediately to Alice's inquiry, "The watchers haven't reported seeing anything more specific than movement, even that is infrequent. However, at this distance it would be difficult to make out a figure against the gloom and miasma." He then mumble something about Pyynana.

 

[Pheonix Alugere]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Hearing the two responses, Sen finally gives up and starts speaking again, Alright, so we barely know the terrain, we don't know what we're up against, and I don't even know what everyone is capable of. Sen sighs at this point, Planning's useless so we might as well head out. She announces before turning around and starting to walk out of the tent, only pausing long enough to grab each of her companions by the upper arm and try to drag them out of the tent. Both other women may notice that her hands seem quite wet. If she can get the other women out of the tent, she wills tart dragging them to the west side of camp and the fields beyond.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Alice lets Sen lead her out of the tent. She walks backwards towards the door, hastily closing the meeting with General Duke. "Err, right, if that's all, General Edward, then we'll go check in with Pyynana and the rest and head off."

She ends with another hasty bow and a simple "Goodbye!", and turns towards the tent's exit

 

[T-A-B]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

Triacca attempts to maintain her stoic pose as she twists around her wrist to avoid Sen's grip. She succeeds, thanks in part to the elf's slightly slippery hands.

Triacca barks, "Sir! You wished to speak to me alone after the briefing?", momentarily glancing toward Sen as she spoke the emphasized word.

 

[the_taken]

Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (Gargantua, Pheonix, T-A-B)

(And lo, Sen and Alice did exit the tent, and their adventure continues in another thread.)

As Sen drags Alice out of the tent, Lt.Miles exits in pursuit.

"Yes," the General nods to Triacca, "I actually have a business proposal. I am very interested in layouts of the city, but my orders prevent me from ordering scouts in. But I've figured out a loophole." He smiles lightly, tapping his skull with one finger. "I want to hire the Crimson Bulwark as guards for one of the scouts. His orders will be to observe and take notes on anything he finds, but he won't be given orders as to where to go other than to stay with his protection."