socks
Master Knight
Magnus of Haen's father was a veteran warrior, but at first the son did not take up that trade; he was a craftman's apprentice, and worked as a smith. However, he became disillusioned with the craft and eventually developed a rare streak of wanderlust. So, he set out from his native village of Haen in search of adventure.
He set out for the port city of Tihr, but was waylaid by a band of nine men wearing rags and furs, and, in some cases, nothing; he valiantly spurred forth on his horse and fitted a bolt to his crossbow. He retreated to the high banks of a small stream and waited for them to cross; for his father had ever taught him to choose his battlefield. As they approached, he shot a few times and cursed quietly; his skills in the weapon were somewhat less adequate than might be hoped. He shot one man in the belly, however, and the man fell down, bleeding to death and mewing softly; another received a bolt in his right chest, but only cursed and kept on running at Magnus. The latter drew his sword and attempted to kill one with it, but received a blow across the chest with a falchion. His breathing was harsh and the cut was bleeding severely, but he killed another man. Then, as he drew back his sword to attack another, the man's falchion swung forth and slashed his chest again, compounding the earlier wound. He feel unconscious and bleeding from his horse, alive through some miracle.
He escaped a few days later, discovering that his binds were loose and working them off, before grabbing his weapons and money, and jumping back on the horse. He made it to Tihr, barely, where a good doctor volunteered to heal him. He paid the man a few dozen denars - he couldn't spare many more - after he had healed completely, several days later. The wounds had been shallow, despite the falchion's potentially deadly force.
Magnus headed to the marketplace after his recovery, with around one hundred denars to purchase something. He started to realize that almost everything in the shop far exceeded his money-bag's contents, and so sold his hunting crossbow and bolts; but that garnered little more than a dozen more denars. Then he remembered the tools he had brought with him; in the adventuring life, he figured they wouldn't be much use. So he sold them and, to his delight, he got four hundred denars! He went back to the arms merchant to buy back his crossbow and bolts, but their costs had been jacked up ridiculously, the bolts alone costing ten times more than what he had sold them for.
All of the good equipments' costs were exceedingly high, he began to realize. So he said farewell to the doctor, packed his bags, and rode from the gates of the city, the gulls crying above and the surf crashing against the dull gray beach. He travelled South and East, to the city of Sargoth. On his way there, just North of the village Odasan, he saw in the distance the high banners of a noble, and rode to a near rise to see if he might make out what scene was occurring. It seemed that a Nordic lord was battling a party of sea raiders; Magnus saw that the former far outnumbered the latter, and, figuring he had nothing to lose, joined the lord in his battle against the raiders. Anyway, his cousin, Sturni from Fearichen, had been killed by sea raiders the previous autumn.
The battlefield was enshrouded in mist, but he could make out low hills and the occasional tree. He could not quite yet see the raiders, but the Lord's men advanced with him. They formed a long shield wall, with the archers behind, and advanced carefully; Magnus marvelled at the number of them and the uniformity of the black-and-white banners painted onto their shields. The raiders eventually appeared and, to Magnus' surprise, there were only a few of him. All these soldiers to kill but a few sorry raiders seemed overkill, but he would gladly partake in the brutal vengeance that Nords by custom enacted on sea raiders.
One of the raiders received a throwing axe in the neck from one of the Nordic soldiers, and the other was mobbed by the entirety of the Lord's - Lord Dirigun, he remembered - army. He was killed quickly, and then his body was stripped and hung from a tree with its hands and feet removed. To Magnus' surprise, Lord Dirigun confronted him after the battle, and told him that it was good to see him here. Magnus had never met the man, and shrugged, puzzled. He travelled with the army for the rest of the day before leaving a few miles off Sargoth.
When he arrived at the town, it was midnight. The streets were all but abandoned but the merchants were still doing business, so he looked at the armorer's wares. He found a scarlet gambeson which he liked, and bought it; it left him nearly pennyless. One of the soldiers in Dirigun's warband had told him that he had racked up a sizable amount of money by hunting down the local looters with a few friends, so Magnus, emboldened by his participation in the battle and his new armor, went off in search of "looters". He privately suspected that looters might have been the type of folk who had defeated him so easily previously, but the man had made it sound quite easily so Magnus ignored his doubts. Still, he searched for a smaller band of them.
He found no bands of ill-armed men wandering around but one, who had around ten or so members, as best as he could make out from a distance. He quelled his fears and confronted the group. The man said something about a robbery and to give him all his money, but Magnus boldly replied, "I'm not afraid of you lot. Fight me if you dare!" and indeed they did dare, for they outnumbered him severely. The band's leader retreated back to his men, and then they advanced as one; the man hadn't dared fight him alone as Magnus was better armed and armored, and had a horse besides. Still, these dangers made him all the juicier a target for them, for Magnus had seen the want and jealousy in the man's eye as he had challenged him.
The mist still hung in the air, but it was lighter than it had been previously; Magnus could see the low hills in the distance, and the trees that studded the landscape on which his fate would now be determined. He spurred his horse forth and drew his sword, praying to God and to Olo, His true Son, before charging at the band. As he drew nearer he came to realize that this was the same band that had defeated and wounded him previously, recognizing a few of their cruel faces; and, spurred on by his hatred for them, he killed several immediately, swinging his sword in great sweeps as he rode past them. He discovered a tactic that worked quite well, whereby he let his horse run them down slightly so that they were dazed and fallen to the ground, and at the same instant swept his sword back and slashed them as they tried to recover. With this method he killed the entire band, slashing and stabbing incessantly until blood slicked his blade and reddened his sword-hand.
[advanced to level 2]
[Getting back into writing, and I figured writing from my adventures in M&B would both renew my interest in the game [lately I've been playing only the Warband beta] and in writing. So all of this is written straight from a character I just made now; as the events unfolded I would pause, minimize, and write some more, and then continue playing. I've obviously added some bits of characterization and such, but other than that the story is largely unchanged from the actual events. Hope you enjoyed it, more on the way.]
He set out for the port city of Tihr, but was waylaid by a band of nine men wearing rags and furs, and, in some cases, nothing; he valiantly spurred forth on his horse and fitted a bolt to his crossbow. He retreated to the high banks of a small stream and waited for them to cross; for his father had ever taught him to choose his battlefield. As they approached, he shot a few times and cursed quietly; his skills in the weapon were somewhat less adequate than might be hoped. He shot one man in the belly, however, and the man fell down, bleeding to death and mewing softly; another received a bolt in his right chest, but only cursed and kept on running at Magnus. The latter drew his sword and attempted to kill one with it, but received a blow across the chest with a falchion. His breathing was harsh and the cut was bleeding severely, but he killed another man. Then, as he drew back his sword to attack another, the man's falchion swung forth and slashed his chest again, compounding the earlier wound. He feel unconscious and bleeding from his horse, alive through some miracle.
He escaped a few days later, discovering that his binds were loose and working them off, before grabbing his weapons and money, and jumping back on the horse. He made it to Tihr, barely, where a good doctor volunteered to heal him. He paid the man a few dozen denars - he couldn't spare many more - after he had healed completely, several days later. The wounds had been shallow, despite the falchion's potentially deadly force.
Magnus headed to the marketplace after his recovery, with around one hundred denars to purchase something. He started to realize that almost everything in the shop far exceeded his money-bag's contents, and so sold his hunting crossbow and bolts; but that garnered little more than a dozen more denars. Then he remembered the tools he had brought with him; in the adventuring life, he figured they wouldn't be much use. So he sold them and, to his delight, he got four hundred denars! He went back to the arms merchant to buy back his crossbow and bolts, but their costs had been jacked up ridiculously, the bolts alone costing ten times more than what he had sold them for.
All of the good equipments' costs were exceedingly high, he began to realize. So he said farewell to the doctor, packed his bags, and rode from the gates of the city, the gulls crying above and the surf crashing against the dull gray beach. He travelled South and East, to the city of Sargoth. On his way there, just North of the village Odasan, he saw in the distance the high banners of a noble, and rode to a near rise to see if he might make out what scene was occurring. It seemed that a Nordic lord was battling a party of sea raiders; Magnus saw that the former far outnumbered the latter, and, figuring he had nothing to lose, joined the lord in his battle against the raiders. Anyway, his cousin, Sturni from Fearichen, had been killed by sea raiders the previous autumn.
The battlefield was enshrouded in mist, but he could make out low hills and the occasional tree. He could not quite yet see the raiders, but the Lord's men advanced with him. They formed a long shield wall, with the archers behind, and advanced carefully; Magnus marvelled at the number of them and the uniformity of the black-and-white banners painted onto their shields. The raiders eventually appeared and, to Magnus' surprise, there were only a few of him. All these soldiers to kill but a few sorry raiders seemed overkill, but he would gladly partake in the brutal vengeance that Nords by custom enacted on sea raiders.
One of the raiders received a throwing axe in the neck from one of the Nordic soldiers, and the other was mobbed by the entirety of the Lord's - Lord Dirigun, he remembered - army. He was killed quickly, and then his body was stripped and hung from a tree with its hands and feet removed. To Magnus' surprise, Lord Dirigun confronted him after the battle, and told him that it was good to see him here. Magnus had never met the man, and shrugged, puzzled. He travelled with the army for the rest of the day before leaving a few miles off Sargoth.
When he arrived at the town, it was midnight. The streets were all but abandoned but the merchants were still doing business, so he looked at the armorer's wares. He found a scarlet gambeson which he liked, and bought it; it left him nearly pennyless. One of the soldiers in Dirigun's warband had told him that he had racked up a sizable amount of money by hunting down the local looters with a few friends, so Magnus, emboldened by his participation in the battle and his new armor, went off in search of "looters". He privately suspected that looters might have been the type of folk who had defeated him so easily previously, but the man had made it sound quite easily so Magnus ignored his doubts. Still, he searched for a smaller band of them.
He found no bands of ill-armed men wandering around but one, who had around ten or so members, as best as he could make out from a distance. He quelled his fears and confronted the group. The man said something about a robbery and to give him all his money, but Magnus boldly replied, "I'm not afraid of you lot. Fight me if you dare!" and indeed they did dare, for they outnumbered him severely. The band's leader retreated back to his men, and then they advanced as one; the man hadn't dared fight him alone as Magnus was better armed and armored, and had a horse besides. Still, these dangers made him all the juicier a target for them, for Magnus had seen the want and jealousy in the man's eye as he had challenged him.
The mist still hung in the air, but it was lighter than it had been previously; Magnus could see the low hills in the distance, and the trees that studded the landscape on which his fate would now be determined. He spurred his horse forth and drew his sword, praying to God and to Olo, His true Son, before charging at the band. As he drew nearer he came to realize that this was the same band that had defeated and wounded him previously, recognizing a few of their cruel faces; and, spurred on by his hatred for them, he killed several immediately, swinging his sword in great sweeps as he rode past them. He discovered a tactic that worked quite well, whereby he let his horse run them down slightly so that they were dazed and fallen to the ground, and at the same instant swept his sword back and slashed them as they tried to recover. With this method he killed the entire band, slashing and stabbing incessantly until blood slicked his blade and reddened his sword-hand.
[advanced to level 2]
[Getting back into writing, and I figured writing from my adventures in M&B would both renew my interest in the game [lately I've been playing only the Warband beta] and in writing. So all of this is written straight from a character I just made now; as the events unfolded I would pause, minimize, and write some more, and then continue playing. I've obviously added some bits of characterization and such, but other than that the story is largely unchanged from the actual events. Hope you enjoyed it, more on the way.]