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Post by Margorr on Jan 27, 2016 23:35:49 GMT -5
((Setting up the horde's arrival at Redwall. They'll get there within this thread.))
The vermin horde had moved into Mossflower. Argrav’s scouts had returned and detailed out the route to the Abbey. It had taken them some time to traverse Mossflower, keeping an army of nearly one thousand together in the woodlands was no easy task, but it was one that Argrav accomplished slowly but surely. Had the vermin remained camped but a day longer, they would have run into The Long Patrol. As it was, they were unaware that the hares had even passed them, and they hid their tracks well enough the hares didn’t know either.
They stopped around midday for lunch. Argrav was grateful, his leg was acting up. “How much longer until we reach Redwall?” he asked one of the trackers that was leading the way.
“We c’n be there by t’night, Captain.” The ferret answered.
“Good. Just like I wanted.” Argrav replied. Redwall Abbey. It was so close. He would have it as his own in a matter of days if he played his cards right. Of course, he’d heard the tales of warlords who had tried to conquer it and failed. Argrav decided he would succeed where the others had failed. He was smarter than them. Had he not come from nothing to conquer the northlands? Redwall Abbey wouldn’t stand a chance.
After a few minutes rest, Argrav got up and started issuing orders again.
“On yer paws! We’ve got to get to Redwall by tonight!!”
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Lucerne reluctantly got to her paws as the vermin horde started moving again. She was burdened down by Margorr’s belongings, and he was keeping her moving at a quick pace by pulling her on the lead around her neck. She did her best not to show her agitation in front of Margorr. It’d just upset him some more.
The one thing that made the walk to Redwall almost bearable for Lucerne was young Aldous. The otter would talk to her, or sometimes sing something to lighten the mood.
She’d taught him an old Long Patrol marching song, and he’d sing it with her as they walked.
“Have you ever been to Redwall?” He’d asked her. Lucerne shook her head.
“No, but I would have gone there with the Long Patrol eventually.”
“My father says that when he takes the Abbey, he’ll let me have first pick of whatever room I want. Maybe you can have the one next to me!”
Lucerne did not reply, but just ruffled the fur on Aldous’ head. The little otters fondness for her was probably one of the few things keeping her alive at this point. She wondered to herself what Redwall would be like. As the vermin’s prisoner, she’d only get to see the outside. Though she supposed she’d get to go inside if the horde conquered it. She pushed that thought out of her mind, not wanting to face that possibility.
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Post by jinxwolf34 on Feb 3, 2016 9:57:11 GMT -5
Deathfang watched from thier tree looking out towards the direction Abbey. They overheard the captain's order of an attack that night and grinned. Under all the confusion, they head straight for the treasures. Mythical swords, jewels, riches galore! If the legends were true, the rat would be swimming in wealth by the next full moon. Deathfang sighed, sending one last look through the dense woods blocking them from glory.
Scuttling down the tree, Deathfang mingled with the rest of the vermin, gathering up some vittles before finding a corner and a whetstone. If tonight as to go as planned, their daggers would need to be in pristine condition. The dual colored rat set out thier tools, back to the hoard, picking their fang with a claw.
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Post by Margorr on Feb 10, 2016 21:33:18 GMT -5
It was late in the day when Argrav's scouts led him to the place where they were going to make camp. It was a clearing, which contained the charred ruins of some long gone building. The scouts picked it because it was less than a days walk to the Abbey. Argrav had his men get him situated first, he had some planning to do. Once the tent was set up, he grabbed one of his crew, a rat named Deathfang.
"You! Find Captain Bruke and Margorr and have them meet me in my tent. You come too, I've got a job for you."
He let the rat go, then carried on to his tent. Argrav carefully unrolled his map and pinned the corners down. He marked a rough approximation of their location with a small carved whale. It wasn't long before Margorr joined him. Argrav didn't acknowledge his assassin's presence, and Margorr didn't need him to. He knew the Captain would speak when he was ready. Now all they had to do was wait for Bruke and Deathfang.
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Post by jinxwolf34 on Feb 13, 2016 11:17:37 GMT -5
"Yes sir!" Deathfang said, snapping a quick salute. Fang grabbed their daggers, and sheathed them before turning to leave. Argrav turned and Deathfang sneered at the wildcat's back. "Ordering me around like I'm some idiot vermin ready to drop everything and kiss his paws." Fang muttered under thier breath.
Fang traversed the camp, weaving through the tents and campfires all surrounded by vermin. Fang stopped, having reached the captain's tent and called out. "Captain Bruke, Argrav has requested your presence!" Fang stuck thier head into the tent, seeing the weasel captain inside. "Do you know where I can find Margorr, Captain?"
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Post by Doggo on Feb 14, 2016 13:50:58 GMT -5
Bruke looked up from the logistical notes she had been going over, sitting at a small wooden table.
"I saw him walk by a moment ago, he's probably already on his way to Argrav, although I may be mistaken."
Bruke stood up and stretched out her joints, having been sitting in position for so long. Stepping out of the tent, she squinted at the bright sunlight for a moment, and hurried through the camp, lightly drubbing any vermin that got in the way with her club.
Stepping into the tent, she tucked the weapon back into her sash. Sighting Argrav and Margorr standing around the map, she opted to walk over silently, going over logistical details in her head.
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Post by jinxwolf34 on Feb 14, 2016 22:27:35 GMT -5
Deathfang kept their head down and followed after the weasel. Clawed feet scrabbled across the ground as they glanced around at the fallen vermin Bruke knocked out of her way. "I'll need to keep clear of her when I try to rob the Abbey." The rat thought to themself. As they entered the tent, Fang stepped out of the way of the weasel and looked round the tent. Argrav was staring down at the map with a quizzical look in his eye, and Margorr was staring at them... Fang wasn't sure what to make of the stoat. The beast-skinning was weird on its own but the way the stoat kind of looked at you... let's say Fang was a little worried that the stoat was thinking of adding a scar-nosed rat pelt to the collection. Deathfang's ears lay back on their head as they shook the thoughts away. Argrav wanted them for something and hopefully it meant getting closer to the Abbey.
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Post by Margorr on Feb 15, 2016 12:49:50 GMT -5
Argrav didn't bother looking up until everyone was gathered in his tent. Upon hearing Deathfang enter. he looked up at the three creatures gathered around his map. Margorr, his trusted assassin. Bruke, his second in command. And um, well, he'd learn that rat's name soon enough. These were the beasts who would help him take over Redwall Abbey.
"Welcome to Mossflower!" Argrav said, gesturing dramatically with one paw. "I'm sure by now the horde is settling down. Let them, for now. You three are here with me because tonight, we are putting the first part of my plan into action," He said, grinning ever so slightly. "The four of us are going to Parley with the woodlanders in their Abbey. You see, I want as little loss of life as possible. We're warriors, not farmers. We need those woodlanders as servants."
Deciding it would be best to deal with the lower ranked hordebeast, Argrav addressed Deathfang first. "You, rat. Congratulations, you've been promoted from grunt to flag-bearer. When we go to the Abbey at sundown, You'll be bearing my standard, as well as a flag of truce. Come get them before we set out. You're dismissed!"
He then turned to address Margorr. "Margorr, you're only there to keep me safe. If any of those woodlanders tries anything, you know what to do."
The stoat nodded, and silently left the tent. That just left Bruke and Margorr. "Ah, my Captain. What I need from you tonight, is leadership. Gather one hundred of my beasts, and have them march with us to the Abbey. I want to show the Redwallers we mean business, but I don't want to give them the full taste of my forces. We'll see how tonight goes. You'll of course come with me indoors to Parley. Any questions?"
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Post by Doggo on Feb 16, 2016 2:39:22 GMT -5
"Understood sir, I'll begin preparations immediately."
Stepping out of the tent, Bruke begin pondering which hordebeasts to choose. Naturally, in a horde this large it was impossible to know every soldier, but she had plenty of subdivisional leaders that reported back to her. She had a good idea of their groups' strengths and weaknesses.
Now for a parley, there would be risks involved. If the woodlanders got in in their heads to retaliate immediately, some soldiers may be lost, so it would be better to avoid bringing the most valuable fighters. She highly doubted it would come to that, but it never hurt to be over-prepared. It would be best to bring some average, but nonetheless intimidating fighters. Crowface's division had performed rather well at the last major battle, and Crimjaw's group was fairly solid. She would take twoscore beasts from each. Finally, perhaps a score of archers from Slipclaw's division, for ranged support.
Satisfied with this, Bruke motioned to several hordebeasts to seek the three division leaders. Hopefully with all these plans, tonight would go smoothly and without incident.
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Post by Margorr on Feb 16, 2016 4:31:48 GMT -5
After the others had left, Argrav took to sharpening his harpoon. The wildcat was interested to see how tonight would go. No doubt the Redwallers would deny him ownership of the Abbey. Nearly everybeast he conquered did not parley with him. These Abbeybeasts probably thought they would be safe behind their walls, especially if they thought he had only one hundred beasts at his back. If the Parley failed, Argrav would prove to them just how powerful he could be.
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Margorr got back to his chosen spot on the edge of camp. He never liked to be in the thick of things, and there were fewer vermin around who would harass his prisoner. The stoat shot a glance over at Lucerne. She'd gotten a lot less interesting over the past few days. She barely acknowledged Margorr's presence, and when she did, she only looked at him with those sad eyes of hers. She'd even given up trying to escape. Maybe she'd finally resigned to her fate.
She at least paid attention to Aldous. At the moment, the little otter was showing Lucerne some fighting techniques that Argrav had taught him. The kid only had a dagger, but he'd move on to bigger and better weapons as he got older. Lucerne was listening to him, nodding her head at the appropriate times.
"Are you any good with a dagger?" Aldous asked. Lucerne shook her head.
"Only weapons I need are paws or a sling. I'm afraid your pal over there has my sling." She said, gesturing to Margorr. Aldous immediately ran over to Margorr.
"Can I have the sling? Lucerne can teach me how to fight with it!"
Margorr dug through one of the bags sitting near his shelter. He brought out Lucerne's sling and handed it to Aldous. Looking pointedly at Lucerne, he gave her a warning. "If you hurt any hordebeast with that, you're dead. Only teach Aldous how to use it. It is his now."
Lucerne knew what Margorr said was true. There was no way she could ever kill enough to escape anyway. She'd just have to hope for a miracle.
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Post by jinxwolf34 on Feb 16, 2016 9:18:34 GMT -5
Deathfang's tail began to twitch with anticipation. So the wildcat actually found some use for them. Sure flag bearer was better than some regular old grunt but sneaking away would be all the harder now that Fang had been given a title. "Oh well, at least theres a chance I can scout out the Abbey while we're there." Fang muttered to themself.
Fang located the flags behind Argrav's tent, and checked to see they were ready to be used. Satisfied, Fang turned from the tent and went back to preparations for the Parley. If all went well, Fang would be up to their ears in riches before the weasel or wildcat even noticed. Deathfang sat back and watched Bruke and Margorr putter around the camp making preparations of their own. "Today definitely became more interesting." They unsheathed their daggers,now gleaming and sharper than wildcat claws. Holding the blades up in the late sunlight, Fang's tail practically wagged with excitement for the future haul.
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Post by Margorr on Feb 16, 2016 20:39:35 GMT -5
As sunset approached, Aldous helped Argrav into his armor, which only consisted of a simple steel breastplate and backplate. After donning his cape, he picked up his Harpoon. "Well son, what do you think? Those Redwallers will be shaking in their boots when they see me, eh?"
Aldous sat crosslegged on Argrav's bed. He nodded enthusiastically when Argrav suggested the Redwallers would be terrified. Argrav did look rather impressive. He was big and strong, and Aldous wanted to grow up to be just as scary, though preferably keeping all of his limbs.
"Yeah you're gonna scare the fur off of them! Why can't I go to the Abbey though?" he asked. Aldous really wanted to go to Redwall. Argrav had been talking it up their entire march down south. Argrav sat besides the little otter, and set his harpoon down so he could ruffle his headfur.
"Because if they see me and you're fearsome self, we'll scare 'em all to death and there won't be anybeast left to serve us. Plus I need a commander back here at camp to keep an eye on the rabble and let me know if anything suspicious happens." Argrav explained. Aldous frowned a bit, but accepted it.
"Sure thing, papa."
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Argrav left his tent and made his way over to the five score soldiers Bruke had picked out. His Captain had done well. That rat Deathfang was there too, bearing their standard. The Captain's presence meant the group could start moving. As the sun sank lower in the sky, Argrav and his troops came closer and closer to Redwall Abbey.
((This thread is closed unless someone else needs to post in it. The next Vermin thread will be titled "Parley" and will be in the Redwall board once Redwall has a bit of a chance to catch up which shouldnt take long. ))
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bye!
