Arthur's horse skipped along as it clacked through the forest. Travelling along the river's edge, Arthur lead his batallion through the wilderness. This was his first real assignment since his entrance into the guild. This was essentially his first real big break in Dies Irae. Arthur was assigned as the head of support for the raid on the Eboncrawlers what was supposed to be a newly-formed dark guild hidden in the wilds of Tolgalen. Arthur couldn't help but be fascinated by the way the river next to him scintillated with sunlight. Light danced across its surface not unlike a kaleidoscope. Looking at the river, Arthur schooled his features as he shook his head and continued looking forward. He couldn't afford to get into an accident with his horse right not, not with nervous allies following behind him. In all of his time in the guild, Arthur had never had his own actual squad, his own actual shieldmates and brothers and sisters in arms. That changed today though, aftter sivvy had given him this assignment. She was clear though in the fact that he would not be front line fight and that doing such was not his job. He could support his allies and throw a few offensive spells here and there, but he was not tog et up in the midst of the battle's fray. If he were to die or become incapacitated, there was no way that his squad stood a chance. If anything, this assignment was pretty much a final exam in what his magical school had taught him. And to be honest, most of that information had been discarded by the young paladin at the time. At the time, they had essentially wanted him to hold a non-combat position within the Rune Knights, bringing honor to their school by being the best-trained healing mage. But Arthur didn't want that, he didn't want to be resigned to a passive effect on the battlefield. And so most of that training was out of the window, but he still held a little of it in his mind. From what little he could remember of said training, the most important thing for him to consider while on the battlefield was his positioning. He needed to be aware of the positions of his enemies at all times, and rotate around them so that his entire battalion was between him and the majority of the enemies at the same time. Given the size of the cavalry he currently lead, Arthur figured that part would be relatively easy given Arthur's general access to mobility and repositioning spells. From the size of his horse-back troops, and the amount of noise generated by all of them, they definitely wouldn't have the element of surprise, and he doubted they could with all of their magical signatures anyway. Arthur had never really learned to hide his signature, and so he always found himself giving away his position unnecessarily. He'd definitely have to work on that in the near future. "Halt! We go on foot from here, the guild is up ahead." Dismounting from his horse, the head of support gazed upon the squad of mean he was leading. They all looked somewhat nervous, not used to their new addition to their team. Most squads never actually got a head of support, and so Arthur liked to think that they thankful for his presence. As far as he knew, the guild only had a few other healers to think of, and they weren't particularly good-natured at that. As the battalion rounded the scintillating riverbank, they came to see what appeared to be a small fort surrounded by an encampment of tents, firepits and other camp-site resources. The guild was definitely still developing, but they'd have to quash their growth before they ever became a real threat to the nation's people. Arthur could see a few scoutsmen running around frantically on the parapets of the dark guild's fort. It was now or never. "Rally to me!" Arthur cried as he sprouted wings and flew up above the center-most gathering of his troops. Somewhat in awe, his soldiers quickly got over their amazement as he cast a group-shielding spell on his allies alongside a buff to their spell and physical damage. Golden light-shields formed around each and every one of his fighters, granting them the comfort and guidance of Helios' blessing. Being under Arthur's command had many benefits, as any able fighter would find.
Now that the dark guild was aware of their presence, A wide variety of spells and weapons were drawn upon them. Dodging out of the way of a stray fireball, Arthur retreated to back behind the mass of his fighters. Guns and bows drawn, his ranged fighters were primed to take out any of the opposing sniper-types. With the blessing of his magic, they had no trouble teaming up to take down the Eboncrawler rangers. With that task out of the way, his knights and melee fighters had to fight the crowd spilling out of the fort's front doors. Mindful of his position out in the open, Arthur remained flying but ducked himself half-behind a large tree and boulder. A protected position with natural cover was heavily desired. Being in the air probably made it a lot easier for certain types of mages to hit him, which proved the necessity of having such an abundance of natural cover should he need it. While the dark mages they fought were not particularly stupid, he did not think they'd focus on taking out the healer before dealing with the army. The average black mage was uncoordinated in that regard, they knew not of military training nor of military tactics that usually called for taking out the support/healer before anything else. Since his healing was still being applied to his allies, who didn't seem too injured, Arthur took the opportunity to cast his smite spell on their largest and strongest-looking opponents. Arthur's holy light burned at the skin of the dark mages. Beams light bore down on them as the effect of Arthur's damage over time spell. Noticing that his shields applied to his allies were running low, Arthur teleported out into the middle of his batalion and casted his spell once more. Having done so alongside applying his healing mark once again, the support mage teleported back to safety. Supervising the battle as the head of support, Arthur quickly noticed which of his fighters was doing the most in terms of damage and destruction to his enemies. "Good work soldiers! Defeat their strongmen and we will raze this fort to the ground." Focusing in on the fire mage in his squad, Arthur targeted him specifically with more shielding, healing, and magic power amplification. Seemingly noticing this, said mage launched himself further into the fray, coating all nearby hostile surfaces in a heavy dousing of fire. Definitely the right idea, Arthur though, as his ally rained hell down upon the dark mage grouping. Seeing that a group of mages in the distance were gathering together, Arthur eyed them suspiciously as they seemingly summoned a large black ball of magic. Not really knowing what it did nor what it was about to do, Arthur quickly summoned his large group shield that covered the entirely of his teammates in one large dome.
As the back mass of miasma clashed against his party dome, Arthur could feel his magic struggling to hold. Putting more and more magic into reinforcing the shield, Arthur felt himself tiring rather quickly. It was working though, and as his fearful allies somewhat cowered beneath the shield, they quickly gathered his composure after Arthur cried. "Have no fear! With me at your side, evil will fall and I will guide you through battle. Nobody is dying on my watch. Not today, not tomorrow. Let's route them from this place!" Considering that had probably been their final magical assault, the black wisps of energy slowly dispersed against the thrumming golden magic of his shield. Now that the sudden threat of an unknown spell had passed them, Arthur's mages quickly grew confident in their abilities as they all stormed past the remaining stragglers and ran them through with their blades and spells. Now that the preliminary group of fighters had been dispersed after many fire, ice, and lightning spells, the batallion was free to burst down the door and send it flying into the fort. A screeching shrill sound of a woman screaming alerted Arthur and the others in his squad that there were more still alive. Glancing over to the source of the screaming noise as he filtered into the fort behind his soldiers, Arthur saw that a lonely barmaiden was quivering in fear. While the woman was probably not a fighter nor really posed a threat, they couldn't just let her go. Instead, Arthur instructed his soldiers on what to do. "Round up all of their auxiliary members and detain them magically or physically. Do not harm them, as they are not the fighters in the guild. They will be returned to Amber Island for further interrogation. Loot this place in pairs of two, do not be taken by surprised now that we have most of their forces taken out. Refreshing a few more of his heals and shielding spells, Arthur was confident in allowing his soldiers to loot the fortress with ease. Flaring out his magical signature, Arthur could not feel anything particularly threatening to him or his allies. Watching the fire mage attempt to detain the unruly barmaiden was actually quite amusing given the fact that he had proven himself so capable beforehand. Now that most of his soldiers had taken up the clean-up tasks after winning the fight, Arthur was left to tend to his most-wounded. One of their defensive ice mages, Kardo if Arthur's memory served him right, had taken quite the beating from the enemy. Burns raged across his skin as the man twitched in pain. Approaching him with a benevolent smile across his face, the paladin cast a golden glow on his hand before sending the concentrated magic into the ice mage's body. Fighting against the burns left by fire magic, Arthur willed the remaining opponent's magic to disperse as his own magic began both mending the wounds alongside blocking out pain. Controlling the pain of his patients was actually one of the lessons his school had emphasized the most. Because in the midst of a battle, he could heal his allies as much as he wanted but they were still capable of succumbing to pain and other distracting stimuli. Placing a hand on the handsome man's shoulder, Arthur sent out another burst of his own magic into the mage's body. It was kind of oddly personal, this type of healing, with direct application of magic. It was almost sexually tense in a way that Arthur could feel somewhat awkwardly. This wasn't the time for that, though, as they were now currently in the cleanup phase after the fight. Arthur figured that he could reward his troops in that regard later, if they wanted to of course. There was really nothing better than strengthening the bond between allies than a little sexual fraternization. Most leaders would have frowned upon such a thing, but Arthur took inspiration from ancient commander and militaries who used such tactics to enhance the coordination of their troops.
After the majority of his troops had began loading the looted supplies onto the backs of their horses, Arthur made sure to gather any of his soldiers that remained within the fortress. The last thing he wanted was for any of his teammates to be left behind. Using his senses, Arthur concluded that none of his allies were remaining within the construction. Satisfied with this conclusion, Arthur returned to his batallion who were now mounting their horses. The captive dark mages had been placed in magic-dampening cuffs and tossed into one of their lockable carriages. They had brought the vehicle along specifically for instances such as this. For once, Arthur was grateful for his own foresight into brining such a wagon, as it had proved rather annoying for his soldiers to maneuver it through the forest paths. "You all should be proud! We've done great work here, and I must thank you for all your hard work. We've fought hard, and won even harder. Now that victory is ours, we must return to the guild to report this success. I look forward to working with all of you again in the future. And if you'd like to celebrate with me when we return, find me in the infirmary."
WC: 2107
Now that the dark guild was aware of their presence, A wide variety of spells and weapons were drawn upon them. Dodging out of the way of a stray fireball, Arthur retreated to back behind the mass of his fighters. Guns and bows drawn, his ranged fighters were primed to take out any of the opposing sniper-types. With the blessing of his magic, they had no trouble teaming up to take down the Eboncrawler rangers. With that task out of the way, his knights and melee fighters had to fight the crowd spilling out of the fort's front doors. Mindful of his position out in the open, Arthur remained flying but ducked himself half-behind a large tree and boulder. A protected position with natural cover was heavily desired. Being in the air probably made it a lot easier for certain types of mages to hit him, which proved the necessity of having such an abundance of natural cover should he need it. While the dark mages they fought were not particularly stupid, he did not think they'd focus on taking out the healer before dealing with the army. The average black mage was uncoordinated in that regard, they knew not of military training nor of military tactics that usually called for taking out the support/healer before anything else. Since his healing was still being applied to his allies, who didn't seem too injured, Arthur took the opportunity to cast his smite spell on their largest and strongest-looking opponents. Arthur's holy light burned at the skin of the dark mages. Beams light bore down on them as the effect of Arthur's damage over time spell. Noticing that his shields applied to his allies were running low, Arthur teleported out into the middle of his batalion and casted his spell once more. Having done so alongside applying his healing mark once again, the support mage teleported back to safety. Supervising the battle as the head of support, Arthur quickly noticed which of his fighters was doing the most in terms of damage and destruction to his enemies. "Good work soldiers! Defeat their strongmen and we will raze this fort to the ground." Focusing in on the fire mage in his squad, Arthur targeted him specifically with more shielding, healing, and magic power amplification. Seemingly noticing this, said mage launched himself further into the fray, coating all nearby hostile surfaces in a heavy dousing of fire. Definitely the right idea, Arthur though, as his ally rained hell down upon the dark mage grouping. Seeing that a group of mages in the distance were gathering together, Arthur eyed them suspiciously as they seemingly summoned a large black ball of magic. Not really knowing what it did nor what it was about to do, Arthur quickly summoned his large group shield that covered the entirely of his teammates in one large dome.
As the back mass of miasma clashed against his party dome, Arthur could feel his magic struggling to hold. Putting more and more magic into reinforcing the shield, Arthur felt himself tiring rather quickly. It was working though, and as his fearful allies somewhat cowered beneath the shield, they quickly gathered his composure after Arthur cried. "Have no fear! With me at your side, evil will fall and I will guide you through battle. Nobody is dying on my watch. Not today, not tomorrow. Let's route them from this place!" Considering that had probably been their final magical assault, the black wisps of energy slowly dispersed against the thrumming golden magic of his shield. Now that the sudden threat of an unknown spell had passed them, Arthur's mages quickly grew confident in their abilities as they all stormed past the remaining stragglers and ran them through with their blades and spells. Now that the preliminary group of fighters had been dispersed after many fire, ice, and lightning spells, the batallion was free to burst down the door and send it flying into the fort. A screeching shrill sound of a woman screaming alerted Arthur and the others in his squad that there were more still alive. Glancing over to the source of the screaming noise as he filtered into the fort behind his soldiers, Arthur saw that a lonely barmaiden was quivering in fear. While the woman was probably not a fighter nor really posed a threat, they couldn't just let her go. Instead, Arthur instructed his soldiers on what to do. "Round up all of their auxiliary members and detain them magically or physically. Do not harm them, as they are not the fighters in the guild. They will be returned to Amber Island for further interrogation. Loot this place in pairs of two, do not be taken by surprised now that we have most of their forces taken out. Refreshing a few more of his heals and shielding spells, Arthur was confident in allowing his soldiers to loot the fortress with ease. Flaring out his magical signature, Arthur could not feel anything particularly threatening to him or his allies. Watching the fire mage attempt to detain the unruly barmaiden was actually quite amusing given the fact that he had proven himself so capable beforehand. Now that most of his soldiers had taken up the clean-up tasks after winning the fight, Arthur was left to tend to his most-wounded. One of their defensive ice mages, Kardo if Arthur's memory served him right, had taken quite the beating from the enemy. Burns raged across his skin as the man twitched in pain. Approaching him with a benevolent smile across his face, the paladin cast a golden glow on his hand before sending the concentrated magic into the ice mage's body. Fighting against the burns left by fire magic, Arthur willed the remaining opponent's magic to disperse as his own magic began both mending the wounds alongside blocking out pain. Controlling the pain of his patients was actually one of the lessons his school had emphasized the most. Because in the midst of a battle, he could heal his allies as much as he wanted but they were still capable of succumbing to pain and other distracting stimuli. Placing a hand on the handsome man's shoulder, Arthur sent out another burst of his own magic into the mage's body. It was kind of oddly personal, this type of healing, with direct application of magic. It was almost sexually tense in a way that Arthur could feel somewhat awkwardly. This wasn't the time for that, though, as they were now currently in the cleanup phase after the fight. Arthur figured that he could reward his troops in that regard later, if they wanted to of course. There was really nothing better than strengthening the bond between allies than a little sexual fraternization. Most leaders would have frowned upon such a thing, but Arthur took inspiration from ancient commander and militaries who used such tactics to enhance the coordination of their troops.
After the majority of his troops had began loading the looted supplies onto the backs of their horses, Arthur made sure to gather any of his soldiers that remained within the fortress. The last thing he wanted was for any of his teammates to be left behind. Using his senses, Arthur concluded that none of his allies were remaining within the construction. Satisfied with this conclusion, Arthur returned to his batallion who were now mounting their horses. The captive dark mages had been placed in magic-dampening cuffs and tossed into one of their lockable carriages. They had brought the vehicle along specifically for instances such as this. For once, Arthur was grateful for his own foresight into brining such a wagon, as it had proved rather annoying for his soldiers to maneuver it through the forest paths. "You all should be proud! We've done great work here, and I must thank you for all your hard work. We've fought hard, and won even harder. Now that victory is ours, we must return to the guild to report this success. I look forward to working with all of you again in the future. And if you'd like to celebrate with me when we return, find me in the infirmary."
WC: 2107
