The Sky Breathes All Life - IC

Eluvan · Nov 13, 2005

Alister leads Sye to the north, figuring that either direction is probably just about as good as the other, keeping himself upright and appearing as confident and controlled as he can and doing his best not to notice the devastation all around him. "Alright. Our basic aim is to gather all the survivors back at the Elven village. I doubt they have adequate resources to help everybody... but they seemed sincere, at least, in their desire to lend aid, and if nothing else it will serve as a place to gather everybody together and try to get some sense of numbers. Other than that... I suppose we just need to do our best to keep morale up." Alister swallows, aware that he is having enough trouble just keeping his own morale ticking over to think very hard about anybody else's.

Nonlethal Force · Nov 14, 2005

Sye listens to Alister until they are well clear of the other group. "I agree, sir. We do need to focus on the survivors at this point. My gut tells me that anyone that can move is to be our first priority. Obviously if they can move themselves they would probably already be lingering around already. But there might be those who merely need help from a broken leg. Those people we can help with relative ease."

She looks around at the carnage and stops. "If I may, sir. Speak freely that is. I am concerned about Miss Foster and Duncan. You have charged me with troop morale and reporting to you any trouble I might be aware of. And you know my loyalty to you is unbreakable, sir. Well, I was quite impressed with the young Miss Foster last night. I had a chance to speak with her after my performance in the pleasure tent before we left camp. She is a bright woman with many gifts to offer. But I fear that she needs good influences in her life. She has potential to be something special - I can see it in her eyes. But there is a part of her that is troubled. And, well, I don't know quite how to say this, sir. But I worry about Duncan. I know you saw earlier how he seemed to lack respect for your position and status. He left me with an odd feeling the other day when I managed to speak with him. I fear that Duncan and I are opposites, really. And ... well ... I hope Lily is strong enough to withstand him. There now, I've said it and can't take it back. I don't trust him, sir. He's little respect for the chain of command. I saw the way Lily eyed him and then walked off without waiting for him just now. She knows it too."

She looks blankly at the carnage around her. "Tell me you've not seen it yourself, sir, and there'll be no more of this talk from me. You have my word."

Lord Wyrm · Nov 18, 2005

Duncan moves with light steps with Lily scouring the Southern debris field. He stays close to her his eyes darting at the slightest hint of movement, his body is tense and he holds his spiked chain at the ready.

"So, Miss Foster, what did you think of the battle?" Duncan begins to his companion.

Shayuri · Nov 18, 2005

"What battle?" the warlock says after an uncomfortable moment of reflection. She turns her slightly too-pale face towards Duncan; dark eyes searching for hidden meaning in his question. "This wasn't a battle. It was just...indiscriminate slaughter. No honor, no glory...just..."

She waves a hand at the field of carnage, and quickly moves to shoo birds away from a small pile of bodies. That grim mission accomplished, she looked back at Duncan.

"Why? What do you think?"

Eluvan · Nov 18, 2005

Alister listens intently to Sye as they walk, waiting until she has finished speaking her mind before nodding slowly. "Your discretion is appreciated" he says with a small sigh as yet another trouble imposes itself upon his mind. "I can't pretend I don't see what you mean. If there's going to be discord among the ranks, I'd guess it'll be coming from Mr. Freehold. I'll trust your judgement on Private Foster. I... haven't really got a sense of her abilities yet." He thinks back with an internal flinch to his uncomfortable conversation with Lily of the night before, seeming so long ago now. "But Mr. Freehold's eagerness to pair with her, and her own seeming dislike, lends credence to what you've said. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he has some kind of designs on her. I'll try to avoid bringing them unnecessarily into contact in future, and keep Mr. Freehold close to me. Beyond that, I don't know that there's anything more to be done."

Lord Wyrm · Nov 18, 2005

Duncan eases his posture slightly without losing his awareness of the area.

"I think that the battle was handled by amatuers, they use different tactics for different scaled conflicts which is the incorrect method. They lost their sense of awareness which must be kept at all times, and the soldiers paid for their mistakes. Had the cloakers not attacked it would of stll been wholesale slaughter, only now the nature of the survivors will be finger pointing instead of rebuilding for more war." Duncan pauses, letting the words sink into Lily's mind before continuing, "I expect Mr. Delbraeth will not be able to keep everything in check if he is the highest ranking officer left. While I have never seen anything like this slaughter on this scale before I have come close, the strength of the young Delbraeth to command in this situation this seems lacking in my eyes."

Shayuri · Nov 19, 2005

Lily shrugs and pries away a section of wooden paneling. The sight under it causes her to look away and shut her eyes. The wooden panel falls back down with a sickly splatting thud.

"No one could have seen this coming," she says, opening her eyes again. "But...whatever. I'm no strategist. Let's worry about keeping things together once there's something TO keep together. Right now, our job is to find survivors."

She pauses, then something Duncan said plucked at her. With honest curiosity, Lily asks, "You've seen close to this carnage before? Where? When?"

Nonlethal Force · Nov 19, 2005

Sye nods as her commander speaks. "You have a confidant in me, sir. Whatever is on your mind - know that it is safe with me. Your honesty about Mr. Freehold is appreciated." She lets a slight smile cross her face as she thinks about her next comment. "You need not keep Mr. Freehold to yourself, of course. If we need to split up again, you may suggest he goes with me. You know where my loyalties lay, I believe that I am able to fend off his ... designs."

She begins to step forward once again, satisfied with the conversation. "See anything, sir? May I inquire as to what inclinations you have to the future for the war effort in light of this new development? The troops will need some kind of direction to keep them loyal, of course."

tylermalan · Nov 19, 2005

OOC:

At this point, you've all reached a distance of about 300 feet from the main portion of the town, and you've just now passed the outer-most buildings, opening into the vast fields that lay before you. Up until now, you've encountered only a few ships that weren't already crashed into those buildings, but now a large amount lay before you, spread out over an incomprehensible area, though not one so large as to make your task of searching seem impossible - merely daunting. The sun is starting to peek through the overcast sky, and the day seems to brighten.

Eluvan · Nov 19, 2005

"Huh." Half a laugh, half a sigh. Sye's question catches Alister somewhat off-guard, and it takes a moment for him to give a more articulate response. "I'm... certainly hoping it won't come down to me making that choice. I hardly feel qualified. But as to my own opinion - I'd not see the war with the elves continue now. The first priority is surely to make some attempt to discover what drove the cloakers to strike when they did, and to defend ourselves against whatever other designs they might have. They've just eliminated a great swathe of the fleets of the humans, dwarves, and the elves as well. Where do they go from there?"