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Guarded Things are Worth Guarding [Mission]

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Seti

Seti
β-Tier
β-Tier

There is an old maxim that more caravans should probably think about as they travel through the low roads of the countryside, and that is "only things worth guarding get guards."  According to this maxim, when something is being guarded, that means that it's actually worth something to someone. Either it can be used by the bandits or it can be sold for a huge profit. Thus, were a caravan to want to be truly protected, the most logical option would be to make it seem like there was nothing there at all.

Seti's current bosses seemed to be using this logic to their advantage. Since King Lagi had requested things be delivered to a new town they were making - Portsmouth (seriously, who named their town something like that? It was like having a trade town you called "Pursemove" or the like. No grace or subtlety whatsoever) - people had been attempting to move their goods down there without them being stolen by some of the rebellious elements.

Going by the old maxim, they had hired Seti specifically for the fact that he was able to go unnoticed through the countryside whilst still being powerful enough to guard the  goods. Sure, perhaps a swordsman or someone who specialized in close quarters combat might be more effective were it to come to blows, considering that any bandits were unlikely to make an open attack that gave them plenty of time to aim and destroy them from afar, but he had been hired specifically because he might be able to make sure this went without any combat whatsoever.

Sitting on the back of the wagon, keeping a rather complex spell active as he did so, he watched the world go by. The spell that was currently weaved upon him by himself was an invisibility spell. Or, perhaps it would be better phrased that he was not invisible, but rather unseeable.

According to recent science, people were able to see things by light refracting off of objects and going back and hitting the eye. Thus, when someone controlled light itself, you could hypothetically delete certain pieces of information from said light. Were anyone to look at the back of the wagan, they would see nothing but a few bundles of cloth.

It was an intricately designed stratagem, and the trick was a very clever one, but he knew that doing this for too long would quickly run through his magoi reserves and that would make him horrifically ineffective should an actual cobat situation be triggered. He just had to hope that the driver, the seemingly unnamed man who was currently mastering the horses, was able to do his part as well as he was.

Finally, as the light on the end of the horizon began to dwindle behind the far distant mountains, it seemed that the mission had been successful and they would be able to settle down for the night without any complaints one way or another. Going by the signs that were being presented, tonight would be a calm and restful night.

Caravan Protection II - 510 / 1000
Fade from Sight - 0 / 1000


170/200:



Last edited by Seti on 31/03/15, 03:10 pm; edited 1 time in total


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EA3C53
Vault

Guarded Things are Worth Guarding [Mission] FpU08NQ

Seti

Seti
β-Tier
β-Tier

As the night began to settle down, the caravans were routed around into a circle to make sure that they could sleep without being attacked during the night. However, by this point, Seti just wanted to sleep. He had been working all day at keeping that invisibility spell up, and now all he wanted to do was to get some sleep. So, he moved into the circle by the fire and adjusted himself to become comfortable.

The fire was crackling, and a good few of his fellow men in other caravans had already gone to sleep. A single man from each caravan had been nominated to take the first watch, and so they were able to get some sleep in preparation for the big day ahead tomorrow. He really needed to take this opportunity to replenish his magoi and rest his body from the physical exertion he had put it through today.

There was something about the country of Reim that he liked. Not just the people, as nice as they were, not just the leader, as benevolent and generous as he was, but the country itself. The way the trees grew, the way the towns smelled and the roads were made. Had he not seen countless battles and detractors since he got here, he could have mistaken this place for a little sliver of heaven on earth.

The winter was over, and as spring was coming, he was able to sleep outside without fear of Pneumonia. That meant that, as he got ready to fall asleep, he was able to look up into the sky and watch those little twinkling stars over his head. These were the same constellations that he had looked up at every night when he was a child, all the way across the sea. He was pretty sure he could name every single one of them if he bothered to try.

It was a little ridiculous to him that he had seen so much of the world, done so many things, and yet no matter where he went or what he did, he always wound up under the same old stars. It felt like no matter what he did, he would never be important in the big scheme of things. That was a sad thought, and yet somehow liberating. He always strove to be the best man that he could be, and yet it was only when looking up at the stars he realized that it didn't really matter. He could just be him, and as long as he was happy at the end of the day everything would be fine.

At some point over the next half hour, he finally fell into the comforting abyss of sleep. His staff lay by his bedroll, his arms folding around it and holding it close to him like a sort of safety blanket. As long as he had it, he was powerful and he would be able to make things better for himself. Even in his sleep, his grip on that dream both literally and physically remained strong.

Caravan Protection II - 1000 / 1000
Fade from Sight - 0 / 1000


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EA3C53
Vault

Guarded Things are Worth Guarding [Mission] FpU08NQ

Seti

Seti
β-Tier
β-Tier

An unknown amount of time later, a rally of voices woke Seti from what had been a perfectly pleasant and restful slumber. He had been absolutely exhausted, and even now he felt tired but it was clear that he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep just yet. The rally of voices, though at first hard to make out, suddenly became extremely worrying as he realized exactly what they were saying.

"Get up! We're under attack!"

The men on watch were apparently very, very bad at their job - either that or they were actively attempting to sabotage the caravan. How people had gotten close enough to pose a serious threat to the majority of the caravan was astounding, but what was even more astounding was the fact that they were going to have to get up and deal with these bandits.

Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but his magoi was still depleted from the days burden. He wasn't running on empty, but he felt sluggish and he was certain he wasn't going to be on top of his game. Nevertheless, he grabbed the cloak that he had used as a make-shift blanket and pulled it on, moving out to the front lines with his staff. He could at the very least provide support.

Staring out into the darkness, he silently cursed his luck that this had to happen at night. It was a very good strategy that they were pulling, however they didn't add the fact that the caravan had a mage on their side. That meant that the scales were tipped squarely in his benefit.

"Hey, boss!" he called over to a slightly older man, the same man that had hired him for this job. The man turned to him, a questioning expression painted across his face. "I'm going to light us up. As I see it, these people have already adjusted to the darkness, so if we force them to confront light suddenly, they should be blinded."

The man simply nodded, and Seti performed what he had promised. A golden orb of light was formed out of rukh, floating immediately above his head, lighting up the ground around them. This should be a lot easier to fight in, even if it meant that none of his allies could look in his direction for fear of being caught in the same trap that their attackers had been.

Fade from Sight - 403 / 1000

160/200:


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EA3C53
Vault

Guarded Things are Worth Guarding [Mission] FpU08NQ

Seti

Seti
β-Tier
β-Tier

With the bandits blinded by the light, the ensuing counter-attack was swift and bloody. Arrows were fired, taking a large proportion of their forces down, and any that would have attempted to storm in close quarters found themselves shielding their eyes, moaning in pain at the sudden bright light that had blinded them. They probably only had a good five minutes before they adjusted, so he had to finish this now.

Casting a second spell, a red beam of light shooting out of his staff and engulfing a pair of men who had been blinded by his tactic, he incapacitated another two. Their bodies were engulfed in burn marks, their hair crisping and a foul smell of singed hair filling the air that probably only made the others' sensory overload even worse. When the light disappeared, they fell to the ground moaning in agony.

Unfortunately, by the time that he had turned the staff on another person, one of the closer bandits was able to launch an attack on him. He charged the front lines, launching an attack with his shortsword at Seti. Still recovering from his blindness, the attack sliced through his hip rather than hitting him in the gut where it would have done damage, but the attack was nonetheless extraordinarily painful.

Seti recoiled, biting his lip to avoid letting out a groan of pain. He wasn't going to give the man the satisfaction. On the one hand, he had succeeded in making sure that the attack wasn't as devastating as it would normally be, but he needed to keep that sword inside as long as he could to avoid any risk of bleeding out. It had still hit pretty deep, even if it had missed his guts.

Giving the staff a twirl as the blade remained in his chest, Seti clocked the man who dared to stab him in the face, knocking him back and breaking his grip on the sword. A second later, now far enough away to avoid getting damaged by the attack himself, Seti performed a third spell, a small beam of light shooting through the man and sending him falling to his knees, clutching the side of his head that the staff had impacted.

Fade from Sight - 776 / 1000

125 / 200:


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EA3C53
Vault

Guarded Things are Worth Guarding [Mission] FpU08NQ

Seti

Seti
β-Tier
β-Tier

As the morning sun rose over the horizon, the glorious rays of dawn illuminating the field properly, the scene was a rather tragic one. Though Seti had taken great care not to kill anyone, it seemed his fellow caravan guards were nowhere near as sympathetic to them. Those that hadn't been killed out right in the battle had been summarily executed after the fact, a sign to anyone else who'd try that they were not going to sit back and let other people steal their goods.

Seti, after his part in the battle last night, was resting up. The caravan's leader was apparently relatively skilled in healing, so the sword had since been pulled out of his side and the wound had been stemmed. As it currently was, a series of bandages were wrapped around his chest below his shirt, and he was being loaded into the back of the caravan. Despite his attempts to rest up and regain his magoi, it appeared to have been in vain. Now he was just being told to rest and restore the magoi he had spent protecting the caravan the night before.

So, this was what protecting the caravan would cost, he thought as he actively attempted to avoid itching his wound. Well, he always knew jobs like these were dangerous, it wasn't a great surprise. As painful as it was, he was just glad that he hadn't gotten into something even worse. Things could have gone a lot worse if they hadn't been warned at all the night before. He wondered, idly, how they had treated the guards that had failed to warn them in sufficient time.

As his eyes skitted over the field of fallen bandits, he murmured a hope that whoever had failed to warn them in enough time was at least safe, even if they had had their contracts terminated. These guys didn't seem too happy.

Fade from Sight - 1000/1000


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EA3C53
Vault

Guarded Things are Worth Guarding [Mission] FpU08NQ

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