_ _ _
Admortis was staring at his feet, as his father had told him to. "Don't do anything to catch their eye," he'd said in a loving but worried tone. "Nobody needs to die for this. We'll say we had no leader. We'll admit our insolence. We were drunk or angry due to a clan war. It doesn't matter, so long as you're safe."
But it did matter. That had been a week ago. Now, the knight amongst the heroes come for their vengeance, Sir Harry, was being unnecessarily rough as he forced each of Admortis' clan members to hand over their gold and other valuables, snatching freely offered goods. Amber pebbles, silver ingots and even woven bands, of nothing but sentimental value, were extorted from his kith and kin. When the knight was done with his collection, he rejoined his men in their concave formation that rendered the goblins trapped in their humble cave.
One of his men, one garbed in a red robe, turned to him and whispered in his ear. The knight nodded and spoke loudly "I do believe there is still the matter of the blood tax. One thousand gold pieces for each of our own slain. You have paid most with your valuables, but there is still an outstanding fee. For this, we shall choose one of you at random, to serve in our fine lord's holdings as a servant."
The heroes began talking amongst themselves, making it apparent that the draw would by no means be random at all. When they had finished their discussions, the red robed man stepped forward and pointed at a goblin in the clan's crowd. Aquila. My betrothed, why you?, he remembered thinking.
Admortis' head darted up, his eyes full of fear. He stared at his father, who shook his head violently, mouthing 'no'.
The to-be goblin knight stepped forward. "Sure, you could take her. Or perhaps you'd rather take the instigator of the revolt, the man before you?"
A cheer went up amongst the heroes. The knight clapped the red robed man on the back, laughing. "Your ploy worked flawlessly, Mordaine. Well done." The plate-clad man stepped forward and jerked Admortis towards the heroes lines, where he was clapped in iron shackles. The knight spat on him. "Your execution will be shortly, knave, but not in this lousy company. The mothers, wives and children of the men you've had killed will want so see your head roll." The knight gave a whistle, and he and his men began to leave the cave in ordered discipline, dragging Admortis along behind them. Nobody amongst the goblins stirred, except to wail in pain, terror or sadness.
The last Admortis saw of his clan was Aquila's face, red-eyed and moist with tears, before he was dragged out into the blinding light of the overworld.
_ _ _
Admortis' eyes snapped open and he jerked himself upright. How long have I been out? What's happening? Part of him knew; Tesonians were embroiled in combat somewhere, and he knew how to find them. Quickly tying on his sword belt and fastening the straps that attached his shield to his arm, he left the workshop in a hurry, failing to notice its other occupants as he rushed towards the trap room. As he drew closer to it, the noises of battle became audible, even deafening. When he stepped through the steel door, known affectionately as Pippy (apparently), he began to survey the battlefield.
It was, quite honestly, a mess.
He drank in the sights, attempting to decide what to do. When a trio of the heroes - guards, all - betrayed their allies and began fighting keeper Hannibal's minions, Admortis was perplexed. More than perplexed, though, as he began to seethe with anger. Turncloaks. It mattered not to him that one of them aided his battle commander, Crystice, in defeating a skeleton, he was of a mind with Hannibal's champion, Viviona, who surprised him with her voracity in with she approached killing the traitors. Death to them before death to us, he noted, pleased.
Admortis began to move across the battlefield slowly, taking his time as he moved. He still didn't entirely understand the situation, so he wanted a few more moments to decide on his committal to the battle. He stopped and panicked briefly when an explosion rocked the room, but the force was largely dissipated when it reached him, sufficient only to stagger him. On his remaining walk, he watched the guards and Viviona exchange words and saw Luis meet his not at all untimely end, and watched the black knight and the remaining two guards continue to exchange blows, and also looked on, bemused, as the psychopathic dark elf Ithique bit off more than he could chew, though he appeared to take out his immediate foe as he himself was taken out.
Admortis was nearly at his goal - the remaining two guards. Two goblins were slightly to their north, fighting back to back as they faced an onslaught of his allies' blows. Admortis came from the north-east of the relatively dense group of people, ready to engage with the guard Lena. He unsheathed his sword and brought it down to waist level, ready to step the traitorous fool in the back. The guard, however, noted this act and, with her right hand, forced the length of the spear though her left hand, causing the bottom of its shaft to hit Admortis in the chest with a blunt force, which did insignificant damage but stunned him with shock and a slight winding. Despite his own failing, Admortis' very presence turned the tide in his perceived favour, as the delay caused to Lena gave Viviona the time necessary to score a sharp blow on Largo.
Admortis hoped her appreciation would be at least slightly tangible.
"Viviona," he started, bringing his sword back in an arc whilst he protected his torso from potentially another spear-butt move from Lena with his shield, "I think you can appreciate here that we in service to Tesonu are not your true foes. These heroic scum are." He punctuated his words by bringing his sword down on Lena's right shoulder. Unfortunately, Admortis' shoddy sword was so pock-marked with pits and so blunt that it failed to pierce the guard's armour, though it did cause a large blunt force that appeared to disable the guard's arm. She offered Viviona only weak resistance with her spear wielded in her left hand as Viviona slashed at her.
Viviona merely laughed, "Hah! Do you honestly believe I would let my guard down so easily? You're just as much my enemy as they are! The only difference is that you'll end up in a proper grave instead of becoming decoration for Hannibal's dungeon!"
Admortis drew back his sword, ready to strike the guard again. "Not at all. You keeping your guard up is exactly what I and my kin need. We need to get the bottom of Hannibal's enslavement, and want to end it as much as you do. In this, we are of one mind. What would you have of me that I might prove this?"
"There is nothing.... Nothing you would do!" Viviona answered before parrying one of Largo's attacks. She then gave a quick swing of her glaive and struck his face, though his helmet absorbed the blow. He quickly regained his balance and began blocking a fury of attacks from the Black Knight as she continued, "It would have to be something that offers undeniable proof that you would aid me, such as killing that girl, this Commander of yours! But even if you proved yourself to me and free Hannibal, what then!? We will be enemies again. Better I kill you now rather than give you an opportunity to stab me in the back... like this damned treasonous bastard!"
Viviona began throwing more of her rage within her swings, knocking Largo's spear left and right as he tried to block and resist. It only created openings, openings of which she took advantage of. She yelled back at Admortis, "As soon as I finish him off, you're next! Don't worry, I'll make sure you die a quick death for distracting the girl! It's better than any fate your master will visit upon you for this!"
Admortis stabbed at his guard foe, who had by now turned to face him. She had brought her spear across her torso to block the move, but the angle of his blade meant that most of the force went into her stomach anyway, though once again Admortis' blow failed to piece her armour. He had to block then, though, for she had begun assaulting him.
"I'll admit, dying to a foe such of you would be most honourable, but killing Cedric and freeing Hannibal would be more glorious, so I'll have to reject your offer. You think I'm the only Tesonian who wants Hannibal free? Not so. Need I remind you that you and yours are attacking my masters dungeon? We are not the aggressors. Do you think that these bastard guards are alone in their treason? They are like to be part of some organized coup, to kill the last vestiges of Hannibal's loyal minions, sealing his doom. Don't let that happen. Retreat now with what you have left. Take me prisoner, unarmed if you wish, for my allies' good behavior. Anything to kill the bastard heroes. Don't let them win."
Admortis punctuated his words with exchanges with the guard, receiving some minor scrapes and wounds from her but, with repeated blows, piercing the armour at her right shoulder. A path to her heart was open, and he'd soon take it.
"I laugh at your ignorance of the true situation! But I'll be more than happy to take you prisoner. I'll take you along with that Dark Elf over there! It'll look better if I don't return empty-handed, after all."
Admortis blocked a powerful blow from his opponent with his shield which left her dangerously open. Lifting his blade up so that that it pointed down, he forced it down into the rupture of the guard's armour. It found its mark, her heart. The guard slumped over, dead, and Admortis had to step back in order to prevent her falling on him.
He was prepared to go round and flank Viviona's own foe, but found that unnecessary, for the remaining guard was a foot off the ground, impaled on her dangerously sharp glaive, which glistened with blood.
Admortis sheathed his sword, not bothering to wipe the blood off it first. It was a terrible piece of work already, well past due of replacement. "Very well, knight. I am ready to depart when you are."
Right after Admortis finished his words, Viviona struck him across the face with the butt end of her glaive almost as hard as she could. Almost, because she didn't want to do more damage than necessary. "Hah! I never said anything about you being conscious! As if I'm fool enough to show you the layout of Hannibal's dungeon!"
Summary
Events: Backstory stuff. Then Admortis awoke and entered the battlefield. There, he engaged with/flanked Lena, whom he fought whilst simultaneously talking with Viviona, attempting to sway her to accept an alliance. He has been rendered unconscious by the black knight after offering himself as a prisoner and slaying Lena. Largo was also slain, but by Viviona's hand.
Health: 65% [-20% from guard Lena, -15% from Viviona's bash]
Level: 5.15 [+0.10 short melee exchange]
Gold in Hand: 0, 0
Location: South of trap room, between Hannibal's support and goblins.
Status: Unconscious
Efficiency: 0%
Battle Status:
Allies
Code:LV6 F TENTACLE "Tara": 88% - [Changed] <Protect/Frozen> {Freeze Ready, ProtectS Charging} Center of Room, Attacking Balina LV4 M TENTACLE "Tent": 50% - [Unchanged] {Freeze Charging} Western Side of the Room LV6 M GUARD "Largo": 0% - Dead [-63%, executed by Viviona] LV5 F GUARD "Lena": 0% - Dead [-67%, slashed by Viviona, ended by Admortis] LV4 M TENTACLE "Toe": 0% - Dead LV3 M TENTACLE "Testi": 0% - Dead LV5 M GUARD "Luis": 0% - Dead
Enemies
Code:LV9 F BLACK KN "Viviona": 77% - [Unchanged] <Protect/Speed> {Sight, SpeedS/ProtectS Charging} At Southern Entrance, preparing organized retreat. LV7 M GOBLIN "Giramor": 77% - [Unchanged] <Protect/Rebound> {Sight, ReboundS/ProtectG Charging} Near Southern Entrance, Attacking Rob, Slowly Moving Towards Southern Entrance LV7 F GOBLIN "Balina": 84% - [Unchanged] <Protect/Rebound> {HealS Ready, ReboundS/HealG Charging} Near Southern Entrance, Attacking Dreggory/Daryl/Tara, Slowly Moving Towards Southern Entrance, Missing Shield LV7 F MISTRESS "Fyla": 100% - [Unchanged] <Speed> {Shine/Drain, SpeedS/Teleport Charging} At Southern Entrance, Awaiting orders LV7 F DARK ELF "Zaulsi": 81% - [Unchanged] {Arrow, InvisibleG Ready, HealO/ProtectO/SpeedO/ReboundO/Freeze Charging} At Southern Entrance, Awaiting orders LV6 M GOBLIN "Durgon": 29% - Unconscious LV6 M ROGUE "Pilnit": 15% - Unconscious LV6 M ROGUE "Corn": 30% - Unconscious [-35% (5/20/3/7) by Missiles, Hail, Slap, and Malsiah's Book] LV5 F ROGUE "Alice": 28% - Unconscious LV5 M GOBLIN "Noro": 0% - Dead LV6 M SKELETON "Six-Pack": 0% - Dead LV5 M SKELETON "Bones": 0% - Dead LV5 F SALAMAND "Slursi": 0% - Dead LV5 M DARK ELF "Erath": 0% - Dead
Traps
Code:Sentry A "NorthEast": 100% [Charging] Sentry B "MiddleEast": 100% [Charging] Sentry C "SouthEast": 100% [Charging] Sentry D "NorthCent": 77% [Charging] Sentry E "NorthWest": 92% [Disarmed] Sentry F "MiddleWest": 92% [Disarmed] Sentry G "SouthWest": 100% [Disarmed] Lightning A "MiddleEast": 100% [Charging] Lightning B "SouthEast": 100% [Charging] Lightning C "NorthWest": 70% [Charging] Spike "South": 100% [Disarmed] Freeze "North": 100% [Charging] Steel Door "Pippy": 100%