Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 22:42:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [ffml] [MW] The Pain Comes From: Sky H Ainsworth It was a normal morning, at least normal at the ancient fortress. The concentric circles of the forest, open field, and fortress walls had not changed since the day before. The normal morning routines had not been altered. Indeed, the morning call to order and the assault seemed like they were every other day. But things were different, and definitely not normal. The line of moogles formed up and started marching to the wall. Behind them, a thin line of moogleboars. Behind the white behemoths strode a thin line of Orcs, equal in size to the moogleboars. And behind the orcs marched a smaller force of creatures. Gryphons, displacer beasts, wyrms, golems, and manticores marched in a ragged line behind the orcs. As the moogles reached the first line of artillery range, they ran for the walls, the moogleboars following. The orcs and Mystic creatures were slow in responding, though, and took a few barrages from the elven bolts before they too ran for the walls. The number of enemy troops was forty-six thousand, the orcs contributing five thousand and the Mystics one to the siege. Amid the hail of showering projectiles, the different armies soon joined up at the moat's edge. The moogles formed ragged lines with their large shields and protected the archers who took their turns sniping at the archers on the walls. The orcs brought up catapults and cannons and started pelting the walls while the humans landed stones and barrels of oil on the war machines. As the war machines came to bear, their projectiles bounced off of the walls, occasionally chipping at the stones. "Whad de Helll iz dat wall mate out of?" asked an orc bombardier. He was then covered in excrement as a turdz cannonz misfired next to him. The Mystical animals that could fly did so, but were knocked out of the air by the archers. Those that made it to the walls managed to carry off a few defenders. A few of the Mystical animals were launched at the ramparts. Their forward momentum carried them up high enough to clear the altitude, though those that went too high or low splattered on the wall below the ramparts or on the bailey within. As the day progressed, it was clear that the Dark Alliance of the moogles, orcs, and Mystics held an advantage. Squibs were devouring men whole on the wall. The excrement made the wall slippery enough that men would accidently slipp off the wall into the bailey. The mystical beasts would rampage. "Sir! Sir!" Bacca turned as a messenger ran up. "What is it?" "The wall has been breached! The northwest corner, sir," said the guard, panting. He had run the whole distance to where Bacca waited on the southern center wall. "Okay," said Bacca, leaning his bow against the ramparts and drawing his swords. "Tell the officer there that I'm coming and I'm bringing reinforcements." "Yes sir." The soldier saluted and ran off. "Time to save the day again," said Bacca to himself. End of Part 1 Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 15:23:20 -1000 Subject: [ffml] [MW] The Wall From: Sky H Ainsworth Bacca ran through the bailey, yelling at squads of soldiers to follow him to the northwest corner of the outer wall. Nearing the corner, Bacca assessed the situation. Corners being the weakest point on a fortress, Bacca was not surprised that it would be a corner to be taken first. Several orcs and moogleboars stood at the corner, some fighting with the human soldiers on either side. A stairway was close by and this had been overtaken by the Dark Alliance. They held all of the stairwell down to a landing, halfway down. There two Lance Henriksens stood their ground, keeping an orc at bay. Turning to face the crowd of men that had accumulated behind him, Bacca called out. "You, sergeant, lead a third of the men to the north wall. You, lead another third to the west wall. And you lead the last third up this stairway with me. Go!" The sergeant quickly organized the troops. Bacca saw some lumber that was being worked on for the side of a hut within the bailey. It was several feet long and wide and made pretty solid. Walking over to it, Bacca tried lifting it and barely got the wood off the ground. Bacca then looked around and pointed at two particularly muscular Lance Henriskens. "You two! Come here." When they arrived. "We are going to use this as a giant shield and take the stairwell. I want one of you on either side of me. When we get up there, we'll lower it down and then ram it up the stairs. Whatever you do, don't drop it or lower it too much as we might end up in the bailey, or with swords in our heads." The two men nodded. "Now lift!" Grabbing the support studs in the wall paneling, the three men lifted it to a vertical position. They adjusted their hand holds. "Now, above our heads." The wall was raised to a horizontal position and they readjusted their hand holds. "When we lower it, get your holds quickly. We'll have a moment to adjust, then we have to charge." "Yes, sir," said the men. Working in unison, the three men went to the stairwell and starting climbing the stairs at a quick pace. Men with swords drawn, ready to replace the defenders at the landing, either hugged the wall or slid between the three men. Nearing the landing, Bacca gave the signal. Rushing the last few steps, the three men pushed past the last few defenders, including the two men on the landing, who were squeezed through, and then lowered the wall. Before it could even touch the ground, Bacca yelled and the three men pushed. Shouts and grunts came from the other side of the wall and Bacca could feel the swords landing on the wall, but the three men used their momentum to press on. One sword landed heavily enough to cut through the wall, but it was unnoticed by the three men. As the Bacca continued to push, he could feel a body against the wall, unable to keep before the moving obstacle. The body tried supporting itself against the wall as it moved up but last his footing and tripped. The wall then slid over the body of an orc and the three men stepped over it. Men behind Bacca slew the being before he could rise up. Soon the wall reached the top and Bacca turned it towards the outside. Then the wall stop and was pushed back a few feet. Orcs had rallied at the ramparts and were trying to force the wall pushers off the ramparts into the bailey below. With a final heave, Bacca pushed back and then let the wall drop before him. He then drew both swords and step onto the lumber. Now the enemy saw who they were fighting. "My name is Bacca, and this is my fortress. Leave or die!" The orcs and moogleboars hesitated but a moment then charged. The two Lance Henriksens withdrew slightly and drew their weapons, protecting Bacca's rear and flanks. Bacca had a wide area to defend, but welcomed the fight. A moogleboar charged straight into Bacca, but he side-stepped, steering the boar by jabbing his short sword into it's face and directing it away. The moogleboar ran right into an orc and the two fell back. An orc came forward and raised his axe. Bacca did not move, but raised his swords and as the axe came down, deflected it into the leg of another orc. That orc screamed and jumped away, taking the axe with him. The remaining unarmed orc decided to charge and was avoided by Bacca, meeting instead the two men behind him and getting cut down. Bacca fought on for half an hour, while the fighting continued to either side of him. As soon as an orc or moogle was cut down, another would scale the wall and replace it. This made it difficult to gain an advantage. But an advantage was gained. The elven rangers appeared to Bacca's right, leading an advance on the ramparts and driving back and slaughtering the mystic animals, orcs and moogles. Bacca joined the warriors and soon they had cleared the wall. The fortress was safe. Exhausted, Bacca leaned against the ramparts and sat on the ground. He clutched his side where a sword strike had caught him off-guard. A dozen scratches were on his hands and face. "Sergeant," said Bacca into the air. His eyes were closed and he did not know if one was there. "Sir?" came a reply. "What time is it?" asked the High Lord of All That Kicks Ass. "Almost dusk sir. In fact, the enemy are retreating as we speak." "Good," said the warrior. "When things are safe and calmed down. Send someone to help get to my quarters. And send me a healer." "Yes sir." Bacca would have slept, but his heart was pounding and his breath still panting from the exertion of the fight. The day was saved, but the enemy was still out there and would continue the next day.