Zanthro's Escape (closed)

Everything had happened rather quickly after Zanthro, for she had worked out that this was the man Archea and Cedric were here for, had heard movement in the bushes. For the first time since arriving, Rowena really took in her surroundings and realised that she was not alone in the forest. Psyre was right, she was bad at hiding, but at least she was not alone in this. 

She heard Cedrics angry tone, followed by Psyre's slightly panicked warning and then she had been off running like the rest of the people hiding in the bushes. She could hear shouts and crashes coming from behind and assumed those were the men working for Zanthro. Hearing Psyre called out, she switched direction to try and find him.

Zanthro watched as his men ran off, and knew this to be his opportunity. Throwing one more chest into one of the small boats, he began to push against it with all his might, attempting to get it in the water. He had watched the man who was just begging run off into the forest, and assumed that he must have been a northern spy. Thinking of the three chests which had either been loaded onto the boat, or left on the ground, Zanthro decided his life was more important. 

Meanwhile, the bandits were still in each of their separate groups, but all of them were walking then. The noises of running all around then stopped, and they could no longer hear any noise of talking. 

Each one walked slowly, weapons drawn and ready, ears listening around them. There were faint noises of bushes rustling, and guessed that would be the best hint they would get, and so each group headed out towards the noise. The groups still stayed fifty feet apart or so, in an attempt to flank anyone they came across. Yet, they did not find anyone, not yet at least. 

With short bows drawn and hunting knives as well as short swords unsheathed, they slowly approached where all the running had happened, though they were now walking, crouching in the bushes to assure that they were not seen. None of them said a word, and their hearts were pounding. They knew it would be kill or be killed.

Back at the boats, Zanthro was making very slow progress. Taking a step back from the boat, he could see that the back half was in the water, and if he waited an hour or so, the tide would carry him out. He, however, did not have an hour. To be honest, which he hardly ever was, he had no idea how long he had. Five minutes? Ten minutes? He knew the bandits would not be able to defeat the tribe, but the question was how long could they be held off? 

Slamming his body into the side of the boat as hard as he could, Zanthro felt a very small budge. Perhaps an inch. 

"This could take a while," he grunted to himself, slamming his body into the boat once again. "I hope those damn men aren't as useless as they usually are." 


(sorry this is much shorter, I forgot it was my turn)

To say the least, what Archea was doing was actually pretty stupid: running into the problem instead of away from it.
 
He stopped short in his movement, trying to quiet his breathing in order to hear anything that might be crucial. The forest was painfully silent, as if even it was trying to stay undetected by Zanthro’s men.
 
If the others had been in communication, Archea was too far away to hear it. He had to go closer in if he were to find the others, or at least hear the rustle of movement.
 
Archea half groaned-sighed under his breath. He actually hated conflicts (of any kind but physical the most). He wasn’t a fighter. He just wanted to explore the world in peace.
 
Slowly and cautiously Archea continued his way forward. Flinching at every noise and rustle he made, he had to stop again. It was too much, too much for him. Archea thought he was going to go crazy.
 
He glanced to a tree on his right. A sudden, he-didn’t-know-if-it-was-stupid-or-not idea came to his head. The forest here was pretty dense, and all the trees were somewhat close together. Archea wondered if he could get from one tree to another easily enough. But would the branches make too much noise? Would they be able to hold his weight? Would this actually be faster and safer or was it just a stupid idea?
 
Archea decided to give it a try. He was pretty good at climbing trees – or at least he was in his childhood, when climbing trees was pretend for being on a ship on the high seas, off to explore new lands.
 
Archea glanced around him and strained to listen, one last time. Nothing. Come to think of it, nothing in this situation might not be the best thing, as he had thought of it before. Archea let out a little huff, and then grabbed the lowest branch available, beginning to climb.
 
   
I am going to die. I am going to die.


((OOC: Ahhhhh. I don't know what to write or do at all.))

Cedric saw movement in some bushes, moving back into the forest.

Is that Rowena?

Cedric stopped himself from running after the noise. Now if any was the time to put his whole emotionless assassin face and deal with the problem at hand. He looked back as he heard a muffled voice that sounded like... Psyre? Ivan? Cedric couldn't figure it out but he should go help them. Numbers are better in a fight, but he was clouded with stupid feelings instead of listening to logic. It wouldn't happen again.

 He saw Archea start climbing a tree, he seemed to know what he was doing somewhat... did he have a bow? Something to hit the enemies long distance? 

Then again Cedric just kind of hoped Archea was getting to safety. Feelings or no, Cedric really didn't think he could deal with losing the people he cared about. They were what kept him human, in a sense. Archea could take care of himself, he'd find the others.

Cedric looked back to the forest and ran deeper in, placing his feet instinctively to avoid loud noises. 

He'd find the others, and he'd fight. He'd fight until they were all safe, even if he himself were to die. 


Maybe you deserve it, not telling Psyre the truth.

Cedric stopped that thought immediately. It didn't matter. None of it mattered.

What mattered was the target, they'd find Zanthro again, and they would end him. For now the Big Manly Hands Gang had to go down, and Cedric was going to make sure they did. He clutched his dagger tighter as he ran.

Avis continued to push through the forest, branches and thorns pulling at her cloak from all sides. Ahead of her she could she the lumbering knight shoving his own way through the brambles. She figured she be best off sticking near him as he looked capable of crushing skulls...or something. 

Then, from somewhere ahead, a voice called out, the same voice that had told them to run. Avis had no idea who it was, but guessed it belonged to the young boy she'd seen before.
She didn't quite catch all of what he said, but got the jest of it: Yo, everyone, come over here so we can fight this douche-bag together and not die hopefully. 

Avis was torn as weather to trust this kid or not. But before she could make her own decision, the knight ahead of her seemed to followed the kid's direction and angled himself toward the voice. Avis didn't necessarily trust the knight's judgment, but, to be honest, there really was only plan of action here.  

We are going to die. she though as she too angled herself to make a b-line in the direction of the kid's voice. We are all going to die. We are all so freaking dead.

Bushes rustled behind Psyre from two directions. In a moment of abject, thoughtless terror, he crouched down and held his staff in a defensive position in front of himself. Then, he thought about it. He didn't sense any danger, so they were most likely allies. 

He stood up and watched as Rowenna and the knight broke into the small clearing in which he was standing. "Hey guys, thanks for joining me. Three - no, four, it seems, will certainly be better than one," Psyre said as he noticed someone following the knight. He knew that this would make a difference, but if they were to fight all the bandits at once, he didn't favor their chances. What he wanted to do was make two large groups. Get everyone together and divide into two groups, one with stealthier people and people with long-range capabilities and the other with more melee-focused people. They would move within eyesight or earshot of one another, but the melee group would draw attention to itself, making more noise than necessary. Then, when the bandits attacked (hopefully they would be far enough away that the bows wouldn't be feasible, as well-used bows could completely ruin this), the melee group would charge at them. Then, the ranged and stealth group would launch vicious attacks at them from the side, hitting them where they weren't expecting it, crippling them. It would also make their group less vulnerable to the same thing if their enemies happened to have also split up and formed smaller units. 

The bows. If they were only able to use the bows from within 30 feet because of the dense forest, the plan was extremely viable, but if they were able to use them from more than 50 feet, they would likely be able to demolish the melee unit. Rendering the bows relatively useless was one of the reasons Psyre had chosen to run into the forest, but there was no guarantee it would work. Well, if someone else provided a different (preferably better) plan, they would discuss it, but for now, they probably just had to hope.

Psyre gestured to the others to follow him and then walked in the direction he had been going, taking care that his steps were quiet. As he walked, he explained his idea to them in a rushed whisper. "I'm also fairly certain that they've had enough time to get close to us, so we need some plan to get the others. I'm going to suggest that we break up into those units now as we hunt them down, but skip the whole making a lot of noise thing. I don't want to have to deal with bandits yet. I'm probably more adept at ranged than I am melee, but I think I'm better suited to melee than either of you," he said, pointing to Rowenna and the one who had followed the knight, "so sir knight and I will comprise our melee squad. Let's split up a bit, probably just fifteen feet or so, and press on to try to find the others. I can also warn you when danger is coming, for some reason, I can just sense it in this forest. Stay alert, listen to me, and we should be fine."


Psyre walked with the knight, softly calling out again to try to find the others. If they only had to fight two or three bandits as it was right now, he felt that they could probably succeed, but he was certainly happy that he could use his Wild Sense to avoid or be ready for confrontations. That gave them an edge that they needed. If they couldn't find the others soon, he was just going to take his little squad and start trying to hunt down the bandits before they got to the others.

((Sorry about the borderline godmoding there. Each person with whom I interacted there has plenty that s/he can do that I just kinda glazed over. You are, of course, free to act during this very long set of actions, I was trying to increase the tempo a bit and make sure we started having the real action soon, as the topic is already 4 pages long. So feel free to speak, take actions, etc. during this. I'll put replies and the like the next time I post, but I wanted to get things moving along. Okay, great, thanks guys!))

Rowena finally arrived at the source of the shouting and was pleased to find that it was indeed Psyre. Cedric had always kept Rowena safe from the moment he met her, but right now Cedric wasn't here and Rowena was terrified. She decided the best thing to do would be to follow Psyre. 

She followed Psyre has he motioned the group to move out and listened closely to what he was saying, the words calmed her.  "I'm also fairly certain that they've had enough time to get close to us, so we need some plan to get the others. I'm going to suggest that we break up into those units now as we hunt them down, but skip the whole making a lot of noise thing. I don't want to have to deal with bandits yet. I'm probably more adept at ranged than I am melee, but I think I'm better suited to melee than either of you," 


Rowena was slightly offended when Psyre pointed to her but nodded her head in acknowledgment. Psyre generally knew best when it came to fights and things. She walked briskly along with everyone else, consumed by terror and a desire to tell Cedric she loved him dearly one more time before they both died. 

It was at the moment that the group heard more noises that one, Quill to be specific, broke off silently from the rest of the group, and began to sneak his way out of the forest to the boats. He would not die with the rest of the mindless group, no, not that day. If it meant killing Zanthro to save his life, he would do so, but Quill would live. 
The others, the group of four, did not notice him leave, making their number drop to three.

Yet, the other group, the one of two, had also heard the noises, and they were much closer. Upon hearing, the man on the left drew his long curved hunting knife, and the one on the right unsheathed his short sword; both prepared to kill in an instant. They paused only for a second, waiting for another signal, hoping the group the were hunting would give themselves away. They did, and the bandits signal came from the sound of mail, only a few short feet away (let's say 20). Now, none of the bandits wore mail, and all were clad in leather. They knew that, and knew that this sound of mail meant a foe. 

The man with the curved knife poked his head quickly through a thicket of a bush, and their beliefs were confirmed. Before them were a small number of four, a knight, a boy, and two younger women. Normally they would never attack a group with larger numbers than their own, but this was an exception. They looked very inexperienced, and aside from the knight, the two assumed the fight would be very easy. They had their target only a few seconds after spotting the group, and one made hand signals towards the youngest, and the other nodded. Then, they took off. 

The man with the hunting knife began to circle around quietly, while the one with the short sword stepped forwards, and allowed himself to be seen as he approached the group slowly, sword held pointed out at arms length. 

"So this is the crowd I've been hearing," he sneered, a wicked grin upon his face. As he approached, he made sure to keep at least a ten foot distance between himself and every other member of the four person group, waiting until his partner attacked.

Back on the beach, Zanthro had still made very little progress, and was beginning to worry, the boat barely being in the water, and the front half still being stuck on the beach. However, it seemed that the gods had heard him as he saw one of his men walk out of the forest, alone.

Cedric rushes through the trees and stops, finding the group he'd been looking for. Relief floods through him as he notices Rowena and Psyre among them. They weren't found and picked off individually. Before he can join them, though, one of Zanthro's henchmen sticks his head out of the foliage.

"So this is the crowd I've been hearing,"


Cedric takes out his out his dagger, walking forward to announce his presence. May as well be dramatic, right? Did these guys even know Cedric was a traitor? They were about to find out, in a very flamboyant, Cedric kind of way. The idea made him put on his trademark smirk.

"Well, well, well. Sorry I'm a bit late to the party," Cedric smiles wider. "Mind if I join in? I won't exactly promise to behave, the exact opposite actually, but boy will I make this fun."

He spins the dagger in his hand, too bad he didn't have a larger weapon, but he was willing to die for his family.

Avis crouched down and listened to the youngster speak. She had to admit, he knew what he was talking about. Following the guy's orders, the group began to spread out, but then, as luck would have it, a bandit stuck his head throw the bushes and grinned at them.

"So this is the crowd I've been hearing," 


Crap.

Avis spun around in a moment, raising her staff defensively. She was suddenly aware of how ineffective the weapon would be compared to...well, anything. Hopefully she wouldn't have to fight alone or she would be dead.

And then, just to make things more interesting, Cedric crashed through the bushes and confronted the man. Avis can't help frowning at him as he spoke to the bandit. Seriously, what side was this guy on? Should she trust him or no?

But she didn't worry about it too much as there were more pressing issues at the moment. Avis returned her gaze to the bandit and readied herself as much as she could for whatever was to come.

As the bandit pushed his way out of the bushes, Psyre shifted his grip on his staff to his favorite way of holding it. His hands about a foot and a half from their respective ends, his left hand loosely holding it so that he was ready to loose a blast of energy at his foes, he felt most at ease like this. This was how he fought. And with four against one, he felt confident that they would easily win. Fout to one. That seemed odd. Surely this man wasn't stupid? Perhaps simply that powerful. Either way, Psyre had no intention of allowing him to land the first blow.

"Well, well, well. Sorry I'm a bit late to the party," Cedric smiles wider. "Mind if I join in? I won't exactly promise to behave, the exact opposite actually, but boy will I make this fun."


Psyre felt like his blood was boiling. "Cedric. I'm going to suggest that you leave. Now. If you don't want me to leave the North and come back with an army to reclaim my homeland, I suggest you prove yourself. Leave now. If you are who I had thought, come back later with the head of another bandit. As is, I can't trust you near me in a fight." Even as he spoke, Psyre slid his hand under and in front of his staff, his palm toward the bandit. As he said "Leave now," he let loose a lesser disruption, shooting the blast at the bandit ((speed is 200 feet per second, at about 20 feet, takes about a tenth of a second. 200 AP total - 50 AP = 150 AP remaining in topic)). As he sent the blast at the bandit, he was already finding his hold on the staff once more. Before he had fully gripped the staff, he started backing slowly away from the bandit, moving to increase the distance between them ((started at 20 ft, now aiming to move to approximately 25)).

"Alright guys, screw the plan, let's beat this jerk! Everyone stay careful, pick him off at range as much as you can before you engage him in melee, and keep your teammates safe!"


He didn't mention it to the others, but he still felt unsure of why this man would attack them when he was alone. He was almost sure the opponent was too strong (why he had backed away) or there were others with him (why Psyre had backed up toward Rowenna and the other young lady). He kept his senses tuned and hoped for the best, trusting in the collective might of the group.

Okay, so I realized that I screwed up the posting order, and all that stuff. SOoooo, here it really is:
Me, Archea, Cedric, Avis, Psyre, Ivan, and then Rowena. I realize this might have changed stuffs earlier, but let's just keep it at that.

Suddenly after following the kid (as Ivan reefers to Psyre) A bandit popped up in front of them, and said some stuff, quickly afterwards Cedric appeared and did his usual, Oh look at me i'm sooooo great routine. But unexpectedly the kid seemed angry t his appearance and told him to leave, That's a bit harsh Ivan though, but then he didn't really know quite what their relationship was so...  When the kid fired off his spell Ivan half expected it to be directed at Cedric up instead it was directed at the bandit. Taking this as a sign that things were getting started Ivan quickly pulled out his sword and as he began to rush the bandit gave Edgar a small stay here gesture. Turning his full attention to the bandit Ivan launched himself forward swinging his sword in a down ward arc toward the bandits neck (deals 161 damage if connects (also will ignore 25% of bandits armor and the bandit might be in a vulnerable position if Psyre's spell hit its mark) AS his blade sung through the air Ivan though how nice it was to be fighting instead of running, But it also seemed odd to him as a trained fighter that this man would attempted a single assault, Ivan guessed that there was something else at work here, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Any way the others could deal with any surprises  that presented themselves, Ivan had to deal with the Bandit in front of him.

Rowena jumped when the bandit appeared out of the bushes, she had been hoping they wouldn't be able to find them. Reflecting back on it, she realised that hope had been unrealistic. They were four people, some wearing armor, and non but Psyre particularly good at silent creeping. The bandit started speaking but Rowena was more focused on the sight of her adoptive father, Cedric had come upon the group and was walking towards them through the trees. 

Psyre's sudden outburst at Cedrics appearance startled Rowena, but she quickly realised no one had told Psyre that Cedric was an assasin. He must have seen Cedric working with the man who had ruined Psyre's life. This was bad, very bad Rowena thought to herself. Not to mention the whole bandit thing. 

Only one bandit, Rowena was suspicoius. She had seen more than that at the boats and she doubted Zanthro would have sent only one person. There were more somewhere, she just didn't know where. Psyre also realise this, faster than Rowena as per his nature, and had moved backwards to protect her and the other girl. Maybe she could take this chance to fix the Cedric-working-wth-Psyre's-arch-enemy situation. 

"Psyre! Cedric is an assasin" She did not yell as Psyre was concentrating on the task at hand, and she would rather he didn't make a mistake. For all theirs sakes. 

"He was trying to kill Zanthro."

Oh, it was the moment's like this when the hearts of the cruel were satisfied.

The bandit watched as a man appeared from the forest as well, talking to the bandit and the others. Resolved to keep a safe distance, the bandit stepped backwards, and watched his opportunity open up. As the man showed up, the younger man seemed to go into a fit. Nearly stepping forwards, the bandit felt a force collide with him (240 hp remaining), and he jumped backwards painfully.
Regaining his balance and resolve just in time, the bandit clutched his chest and grimaced before looking up to see the knight jump at him. The attack was bound to fall short no matter what, but just to play it safe, the bandit stepped backwards another two feet.
Then, the target started talking, and no better timing could come. Raising his short sword to chest level, and holding it outwards to skewer in a charge. Then, he let out a cry, and rushed in a slight semi circle towards the youngest (22f/s). The way he was charging, if she took a step away, it would only lead her closer to his friend.

His friend, to mention, was in position and ready as well, his hunting knife held poised to stab. Watching the scene play out before him, as he hid behind the whole group, he knew this would be the prime time. His friend had been struck with a spell, and painful as he might be, it was far from killing him, so he knew they would attack. Then, watching his friend make the cry and the call, he too knew it was time to strike. Rushing forwards to the girl who stood 10 feet away from him, he tried his best to not make a single sound as he rushed forwards, hoping that the cry and the distraction of his friend would be enough. So, he rushed, hoping to strike the youngest; Rowena. (If hits, will deal 132 damage).


About 100 feet away, the group of three other bandits hear the cry, and quickly but silently make their way towards the noise, recognizing it to be a cry of attack, and also knowing that if it were an attack, they wanted in. 


"Think we have time to take the rest?" Zanthro asked, wiping his brow, and looking at the progress the two had made. They had pushed the boat enough that, within five minutes, the tide would be up, and the boat would be afloat.

"We should," replied Quill, grinning at the other two chests that lay in the second boat. "Sounds like the mercenaries have just discovered our "friends". They won't die for at least ten minutes, even if it just means they are running around."

Zanthro smiled. He liked the young man, Quill. He reminded Zanthro a lot of himself, which of course meant he would have to kill him eventually. Of course, Quill was thinking the same thoughts.

His lightweight, agility made it easy for Archea to somewhat swiftly leap, or more like crawl, between the branches of the trees. There was a little bit of rustling, but also a nice breeze coming from the sea, and the two blended well together. Of course, if anyone were to look close enough, they would see an odd color that did not belong in the green foliage. However, Archea didn’t think about it – he just kept grappling on.
 
Soon enough, he heard voices. An unfamiliar voice came first, but Archea new it belonged to one of Zanthro’s men: the bandits were upon them!
 
Then he heard a very familiar, cocky-yet-rightly-confident voice he knew very well – Cedric. And Archea started feeling better. But only for a few seconds, because immediately following was the harsh, accusing, and betrayed voice of Psyre.
 
“I suggest you prove yourself.”
 
Shit, shit, shit. Of course Psyre thought Cedric was working for the enemy – he knew nothing of Cedric’s true job or background.
 
Archea picked up the pace in his scrambling, only to slow down considerably when he came near enough to see their heads through the leaves, but they wouldn’t see him. Just as he grew completely still to observe more (because, come on, he wasn’t a fighter for a reason), Psyre let loose a lesser disruption spell. Right after, the Knight (still didn’t know his name) grabbed his sword and swung at the bandit. It hit its target, but didn’t leave a lasting impression.
 
Archea looked around at the surroundings. Behind the rag-tag group, he saw another bandit, hiding in wait for the perfect moment to strike.
 
And that moment came. In one swift movement, the bandit in the clearing drew his sword and charged. Straight for Rowena. The other bandits would soon be following.
 
   
All chaos broke loose – and Archea had to decide his role in it.


((OOC: I'm sorry for these boring posts where I am painfully, obviously trying to avoid Archea fighting xD))

"Leave now," Cedric nodded a bit at this. It made sense, he deserved that. Let it never be said that Cedric didn't know he was a complete dick, an arrogant one at that. Rowena is the one he cares about right now, and he hears her tell Psyre about his work. He doubts that'll do any good, he broke his trust. It doesn't matter that that's his job, he should have told Psyre he found Zanthro, and about his plan. Cedric was an idiot, but there was nothing he could do about it now. For all he knew, he just lost Psyre completely.

Oh well, wouldn't be the first. Let's not forget the time you- No. Not the time for memory lane. Another time, with tea and a fine lady. You know, not surrounded by people trying to kill you. Well, maybe then. But not while your family is in danger.

"If that's what you wish-" Cedric was interrupted by the bandit rushing at Rowena, looking over he noticed Psyre was next to her, and he'd be ready. Suddenly, Cedric heard someone rushing from the other side of Rowena. Cedric Rushed forward, swiftly taking out his dagger and jumps, stabbing the Bandit in the face(67 damage if hit).

"You boys don't really know how to treat a lady, do you?" Cedric smiled sweetly. "I'm going to ask you to fuck off, if you don't mind."
Cedric twisted the dagger a bit in the wound, before pulling back.

So there was a bandit. A bandit. One bandit. One bandit against all of them. What was he, insane? He didn't really think he could beat all of them, did he? Well, at least he couldn't beat the Knight and the kid as they seemed to be the only ones who could, you know, fight. Maybe it made her a coward, but Avis would prefer to do as little fighting as possible. 

But, apparently, the bandit wasn't the most pressing issue to the kid as he started yelling at Cedric for no reason. Well, ok. For a reason. Who knew what side Cedric was really on, but was now really the time to be dealing with it?

But then everything exploded into action. From behind her, Avis heard the girl whispering to the kid (Psyre did she call him?) that Cedric was an assassin and therefore good...which didn't make a whole ton of sense to Avis but whatever. There was some distant rustling in the branches over their heads, but that wasn't as important as what else happening. The kid, Psyre, was shooting some spell at the bandit, which hit, and the Knight was swinging his sword, which didn't hit. And then the bandit was lunging towards the girl near Avis. And another bandit erupted from the bushes behind the girl, likewise attacking. This poor kid.

Avis was too shocked to move at first and before she could move in intercept the attack or...run away, Cedric was leaping forward, dagger in hand. He made a stab at the second bandits face. That would hurt. 

Avis knew the Psyre would probably step in and do something to the other bandit, the first one, but Avis was moving before she could think her motions through. She side-stepped clear out of way of the oncoming bandit. One quick step brought her in striking range of the lunging man, allowing her staff to slip through her hands so she could hold it with one hand at the end, the other around the middle of the staff to provide a steady grip. From there she swung the weapon at the man's midsection, hoping he would run into it and become winded (15 damage if hit). 

Shit. What the hell was she doing. She was so freaking dead. 

((OOC: sorry im not really sure what i am doing.  ))

(Pssssst, Avis, your staff actually does a lot more damage if it hits. Either look at the rules at weapons or ask your brother how scaling works.
Your attack will actually do 56 damage if it hits.)

Rowenna was saying something to Psyre, something about Cedric, but Psyre was already a blur of motion. As Rowenna started to talk to him, he felt something behind him. He could tell that someone there was about to attack Rowenna, so he was already spinning past her. He didn't slow down as he saw the bandit, but only corrected the aim of the butt of his staff, using his spin to slam the staff into the bandit's side such that he would be forced away from his current target. Psyre wasn't confident he would hit the bandit if he aimed anywhere less easily hit than the chest, so he centered his attack on his foe's ribs and moved as fast and hard as he could. ((quarterstaff has base damage 15 and low scalings in both dex and strength. With dex 32 and strength 48 (now higher, but 48 in this topic), attack would deal 15 + 32 + 48 = 95 damage)) Psyre was fully committed to this action, so even though he could hear the other bandit's charge, he could do nothing about it. When he heard Cedric's pompous little remarks, he felt waves of anger and relief washing over him. Rowenna was more likely to be safe, but he didn't want Cedric near himself or anyone for whom he cared. Cedric had lied to him. If not directly, then at least by omission. Cedric couldn't be trusted. Not anymore.

Psyre shook his head and cleared it of all distracting thoughts. Not the time. "Those of us who can fight, protect the others! Try to focus on one, not to the complete exclusion of the other, but the sooner we don't have to worry about them flanking us, the better! Also, more might show up any time, so let's speed this up. Cedric, When these men aren't a threat to the lives of those here, I'll give you five seconds. If you haven't left by then, I will make you do so. Maybe you will one day earn the chance to prove yourself to me. But that is not this day."

The bandit Ivan had swung at easily dodged his attack, then charged, as he did so Ivan Prepared to defend himself. But realized that he wasn't charging him, he was charging in to the group. As Ivan realized this he also heard movement behind him and suddenly yelling and the smacking of weapons on skins. But Ivan decided that this wasn't his problem, the others could deal with it. 

Raising his sword again Ivan once again charged the bandit (the one who had been charging), making sure he was in range this time he swung his sword sideways, attempting to slice the man's side, right about where the rip cage ends (deals 161 damage if hits). At the same time Edgar drew his sword and rushed to help his king, not striking yet, but waiting for a good opportunity.

It was all too much. Cedric had jumped in front of her to stop the bandit coming at her from the front, Psyre was dealing with the one behind her. She was useless, just a weak target. Rowena suddenly wished she had spent more time with Psyre training. Which was another thing, Psyre had been too busy saving her to listen and even if he did she doubted it would have helped too much. She may not have known Psyre for too long, but she loved him like a brother. She couldn't stand to have another family torn apart, she rememberd other brothers she had lost. 

There was nothing, at least nothing useful, Rowena could do right now. She could try to run, but she assumed there were more bandits waiting in the forest. At least here she was safe, at the risk of Cedric and Rowena. What could she do to help? She couldn't fight, didn't know spells. If Rowena got out of this alive, the least she could do was fight for her family. She would work to help Psyre and Cedric make up even if it tore her apart.

As the first bandit charged, he was quickly intercepted, though he planned for it, although perhaps not that well. First, one of the men made a stab at his face, which collided, going straight through the cheek, and cracking the teeth on the other side. The bandit almost let out a howl of pain, and counter attacked. Almost. However, somehow, a quarter-staff had made it's way between Cedric and the bandit (now, if I was cruel, that attack would have hit Cedric from the way it was swung, seeing as he jumped seconds before it was sung, and both things went towards facing the bandit, and blah blah blah, I'm not that mean, so it hits the bandit instead, and we'll say the staff swung first), and collided right into the bandits stomach, knocking out all the wind, and nearly causing him to stagger. Yet, what followed was overkill, as a short sword, swung with immense force, cleaved right into the bandits left side, digging so deep that the blade connected with the spinal cord, severing every bit of nerve and tissue to that point. As the blood began to seep down, the bandit fell over, almost cut in half with a hole in the front of his face, and dead, with the rivers of life flowing from him, covering the white snow around. (negative something hit points)

The second bandit, however, did not notice the strikes on his friend, as one met him, square in the chest, and caused him to stagger backwards(205 hp left. It was only one young man, alone as the others were attacking his friends, and so he would attack this attacker. Growling from the pain that had been caused, the man darted forwards a few feet, making a wide and powerful sweep with his long knife (82 damage if hits.) aimed directly at this attackers chest. He would not go down without a fight, unlike his friend, who now lay dead, his spine splitting at a notch, and his insides spilling out.

Meanwhile, the other three bandits had heard the commotion, and were now running full sprint towards the noises they heard. However, what they did not know is that, as they ran, and the clearing came into view, one of them ran directly below the tree with Archea hiding in it, giving him the perfect opportunity to make more chaos.

Yet, back on the beach, the work was almost done, and all chests of gold and plunder had been loaded into one of the smaller boats. Zanthro and Quill were proud of their work, and admiring their riches as the tide slowly moved in. One more minute, and the boat would be afloat.

"Well, looks like you're useful after all," Zanthro said, smiling at the younger man. "I might have to keep you around," he raised a brow, and added "and under a close watch."
Both laughed, and began to push the boat out, bound for the East.

So much was happening at once, it was a little dizzying to follow.
 
But then the figure of a bandit appeared under his tree. Before Archea could think about what he was doing, his legs were off the branch and into the air, with his hands gripping the branch he had just previously been balancing on.
 
His swinging legs connected perfectly with the bandit’s back, and Archea took this opportunity to kick with all his might. The unknowing bandit went tumbling forward, face-planting into the snow.
 
Archea used this moment to let his hands detach from the branch. Since his body was already hanging from the tree, the distance to the ground was no longer such a large space, and he landed, in a crouch, with ease.
 
However, he did not stay like that for long. In a split second, he had the quarterstaff (previously tied to his back) firmly in both hands, and was advancing on the bandit. Taking a running step forward, Archea swung the quarterstaff in a wide but fast arc, aiming for a side blow to the bandit’s head ((67 damage if hit)).

((Quick thing on the combat: you only control your character's attacks, not the effects thereof. Archea can attempt to hit the bandit, and if he does so, then perhaps the bandit will fall, but you can't dictate that. Also, considering that there are three bandits here, the timing for this is not likely to work out well for you. The first bandit gets kicked, the others hear it and turn as Archea lands, and then Archea charges into their attacks. I know that combat is still kinda confusing and such, but just a heads up that the first part of that contains some borderline godmoding (bear in mind that NPCs are essentially the admin's characters, we still don't control them) and that those actions take quite a lot of time, and the reactions therein might not be good for Archea. It might take a while to become used to and adept in combat.))