Raekal RP Admin Band OL King of Manetheren
Posts: 272
(12/10/06 10:01 am) Reply
Cairhein
Warren ran as fast as his feet would carry him, flying down the hallways as quickly as he could. Guards and messengers scattered before him. Servants squawked in dismay as he blew through their midst, his hair blowign out behind him as he ran full-blown through the palace.
Warren was a guard, one of the elite guard, the personal guards, of Lord Dunwhal, the current occupant of the Sun Palace. Though the palace had changed hands several times and fights still rolled through the streets as other factions tried to take the throne, the war was coming to an end. Dunwhal had the Palace, and had the force of men required to hold it. He would take the throne by power, and hold it. Already a few of the lesser lords had switched to support him, hoping to gain favor and rise in status before the war ended in a most unpleasant manner for the others.
Warren, however, had just recieved some very, very bad reports. So he ran, as fast as he could, his boots smacking the tile with echoing thumps, sliding around a corner, smacking into a maid with an armload of laundry. Sheets went up in the air and clothes scattered across the floor. Warren was off running again before the woman had a chance to curse at him. Which she began to do, quite loudly. Rounding another corner, the two guards outside their lordship's room almost jumped out of the way, one managing to get the door open enough so Warren didn't smash headlong straight into it.
Skidding to a halt just inside the door, he stood panting for a moment, catching his breath. Lord Dunwhal looked up from behind his desk, his eyes dark. "What's the meaning of this? Guard, explain yourself!"
"Sir," Warren managed inbetween gasps for breath. "We've just recieved word that... that..." he drew a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.
"Out with it, man!" Dunwhal roared.
"Voda is outside the city with his army. He has proclaimed death for all who resist, but anyone is welcome to join his side freely. Lord, he has come for the Throne!"
"Voda," the man growled. "Nothing but an annoying nuisance. I will dispatch of this man and take the Throne, as I was meant to. Captain, see to your men. Defend the walls, now! Pull those you can back to the inner walls, abandon the outer city. We do not yet have the manpower to hold that length of stone wall."
"Sir.. he has that manpower. That many, and more. We are outnumbered drastically."
Dunwhal paused. "Fine. Send runners out now. To the White Tower, to Andor, to the Borderlands. Cairhein calls for aid."
Warren saluted crisply. "It will be done as you say, Lord."
Dunwhal rose from behind his desk. "So we can hope."
Warren nodded, and turned and ran from the room. The runners would have to be sent out immediately for any hope to survive. They would have to reach their goal before Ranine could gather his forces to attack. But somewhere in his heart, Warren could feel dread building up in deadly amounts. Cairhein, he knew, was doomed. Ranine would have the throne before the week was over.
(Raekal Dunshain) -- First Stormleader Asha'man Bonded to Brenna Selanos (Saker Mandell) -- King of Manetheren (Seia Vron) -- Asha'man (Tristan Du'saa) -- Gaidin in Training (Kerin Lizaile) -- Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
Ranine looked at his army. His actual trained forces were severly lacking. With them alone, he would have been laughed out of Cairhein. The thought irked him to no end, knowing others laughed at him.
The mob that was trying to arange itself in some military form however, made up for what twice as many soldiers. they were untrained and untested, but the raw energy that could be felt buzzing through the mob was enough to make Ranine laugh at what fate Dunwhal would suffer.
And then there was Kerin. He still had her toy, but she rode next to him. He had soothed Sophie, telling her that she was being left behind out of love and caring, to ensure she was kept safe. That wasn't about to stop him from enjoying his nights on the road though. It would be interesting to spend an evening with an Aes Sedai.
'MEN OF CAIRHIEN," he roared, Kerin having woven an amplification to his voice. "TODAY WE RIDE FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MAN KIND! NO LONGER WILL YOU GO HUNGRY WHILE SOME LORD EATS THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABOR! NO MORE WILL THE LAW IGNORE THOSE WHO LACK WEALTH! TODAY, A NEW CAIRHIEN WILL BEGIN! ONE WHO'S LEGACY WILL BE KNOWN TO THE WHOLE WORLD!"
The cheering, almost a roar from the crowd, was near deafening, but Ranine simply smiled, and set out towards Cairhien. It was a good day.
Raekal RP Admin Band OL King of Manetheren
Posts: 275
(12/10/06 4:53 pm) Reply
Re: Cairhein
Warren watched the men fly out of the gates, bent low over their horses, which were running for all they were worth. Cases, carrying letters from the lord asking for support and aid, bounced on their backs as they branched apart, shooting different directions. "Close the gates!" he ordered, and stepped back as the large gates swung shut.
"Withdraw the main force to the inner walls around the palace. See that the people are safe, where they are. A detachment of archers and I will remain here, to try to buy more time, and slow them down somewhat."
Warren looked back out at the mass of men rolling towards the city. He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly running dry. "Yes, sir." Warren looked back at the courier, who was waiting any further orders.
"Go. Dismissed." The man bowed and dashed off. Above the city bells were tolling, calling the people into the inner walls. Letting them know that the time had come to fight or die.
Warren turned, picking up his bow, feeling the quiver on his hip. They had dropped quivers in piles on their retreat route, and carried a second on their back. Hopefully, Ranine's force would bleed a bit before gettign to the inner walls. All was set... Warren and his men had nothing to do now but wait, and see how Ranine acted.
(Raekal Dunshain) -- First Stormleader Asha'man Bonded to Brenna Selanos (Saker Mandell) -- King of Manetheren (Seia Vron) -- Asha'man (Tristan Du'saa) -- Gaidin in Training (Kerin Lizaile) -- Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
Re: Cairhein
Ranine smiled as a few broken tunes came from the mob that followed him. It was a difficult position he was in. Mobs, while powerful enough to turn the battle, could get out of hand quickly. If he was seen to be sqaushing their interests, then it was curtains for him. If he let themm run loose, he would have no city to rule from.
Then, as he crested a hill, his worries were muted. There was his prize. Cairhien, in all it's splendor, banners flying in the breeze. Out of the gates poured forth no less then a dozen horsemen, obviously messengers. Ranine smiled. They could ride as fast as they wanted. Carhein would be his by the end of the day.
"Kerin my pet," he said softly, catching site of the archers on the outer wall. "I need you to do something about those pesky archers. They will kill us all, including you, if they are not dealt with quickly."
He handed over her "toy" and sent a dozen cavalrymen with her. They should be able to provide the shielding she needed to take care of the problem. In fact, the archers might think it a chance to parley.
Oh, if they only knew.
Raekal RP Admin Band OL King of Manetheren
Posts: 295
(8/1/07 1:32 pm) Reply
Re: Cairhein
Warren glanced down at the small group coming towards them. He had heard the stories of horror and blood that had come with Ranine, and been warned to never accept what he saw for it's face value. One of the men with him stood.
"Sir, a small force approaching. Perhaps they wish to speak with us first?"
Warren glanced at the man, saw the hope and longing dancing in his eyes, and understood. Only a bitter madman would want to fight the mass outside the gates. Only a fool, or a man with a deathwish. Either one, Warren was not. "Get down, man. I have a feeling--" The wall dropped away from beneath him, and all Warren knew was pain.
***
Kerin glanced up at the archers with cool, detached purpose. A small smile flitted upon her lips, one that spoke of her happiness of being able to complete her lord's wishes. She would do as Voda asked, yes. And Voda would be pleased with her, she knew. And that, that was all that really mattered.
Reaching through the tool in her hands, she surrendered to saidar, let it fill her with it's warmth and calm joy. And with it, it's beautiful power and rolling majesty, she reached out to the gates, and incinerated them. Flame woven so tightly that the wood of the gates flared for only an instant before being turned to ash. The white-hot heat flared through the air, the men with her wincing as sweat burst out on their foreheads and their armor became uncomfortable and stifling.
A second weave of earth wound through the stones of the archway beneath where the archers watched, and very caerfully, she lifted them apart. The stones floated away from each other, and then just as suddenly set back in where they had been as if nothing had happened. Hideous screams rose from the top of the gates. The archers had not had time to fall completely, no.. in mid-fall the wall had reformed, regardless of where they had been during said fall. Blood dripped down from above from shattered limbs and torsos. Only a few remained on their feet, uninjured, looking around them in shock and surprise.
Kerin ended that quickly. Concentrated flows of air, woven to a razor's edge, scythed over and over and over again the top of the walls, slicing anything above knee height into quarters. Screams ended in sickening splatters, but Kerin had only just begun.
"Kill any who remain," she told those with her, and they rode forwards, through the blackened archway of the gates, and mounted the walls. Cries rose as they closed in, but within seconds it was quiet again from the top of the wall. Arond her came Ranine's force, moving into the city she had opened for them. She rode calmly forwards, her mare calm and collected, as if her rider had not just slain a hundred or so men. On they rode, the men and main force moving around them. Saidar swirled around Kerin in a growing symphony of power. It poured into and through her, around her, wrapping her in it's embrace and threatening to overwhelm the fabric of existence. No woman could ever hold this much, aided even with the most powerful angreal in the Tower. Only this angreal allowed this type of power.
Power that Kerin was drunk on.
As they reached the inner walls, she raised her hands, and death came for the defenders. Lightning slashed down and ripped apart their careful formations. The gates fell, incinerated like the first had been. The heat she focused into a wave and drove back, through the gates farther. The defenders gathered there fell by the dozens. Heat seared their armor to their skin, fused their hands to the hilts fo their weapons, burnt their eyes, singed their hair, covered them in heat blisters. Through the opening, balls of fire rolled, cast from Kerin's fingertips. Men screamed and turned to run, but Ranine's horde was fast upon them, eager for their own chance to deal out death and judgement.
Arrows rained down from above, claiming scores of men. Kerin glanced up in annoyance, and wove a quick shield that spread out around her for a good thirty paces. Then, quick as the lightning, she had it tied off and stabilized. An odd ceiling of arrow shafts hung above her head as she wove again, focusing spirit laced with earth, and deathgates suddenly were racing across the tops of the walls, slicing through hundreds of bodies. Another glance to the side and a weave of fire rolled down from the sky in a pillar to consume an entire regiment of men bearing down on their flank.
Within minutes, the entire force of Cairheinins lined up against them were in full flight. Kerin smiled as she let saidar go. She had done her part. Any further usage of the power to track down the survivors would only cause damage to the palace, and Kerin was not eager to suffer her lord's displeasure. She rode forwards with the mobs, leaving her hanging shield where it was. It would be a testament to her power, for any coming up behind them. Any enemy who thought to stab them in the back. She smiled thinly. Yes... Ranine would be pleased.
(Raekal Dunshain) -- First Stormleader Asha'man Bonded to Brenna Selanos (Saker Mandell) -- King of Manetheren (Seia Vron) -- Asha'man (Tristan Du'saa) -- Gaidin in Training (Kerin Lizaile) -- Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
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