Thread: Blessed & Cursed (Yuna & Alvis Alendran's 1x1)

It was a good day to be a mercenary. Well, most days were good to be a mercenary in this land. A veritable horde of cities, and most of them wanting to make war with one another. And habing a group of foreign warriors that stood nearly a foot taller than the average local didn't hurt either. The only downside was how blasted hot it was in these lands compared to back home. Throkell turned to look at the few remaining preparations being made by his men. A few of them had made some concessions to local fashion, donning kilts instead of the heavy trousers of back home, and here and there were bronze guards for arm and lower leg. But most of them had the more familiar iron scales, with a rare few affording the chain mail that had saved them so many times. He turned back to the city, and examined the walls. They were higher than he was used to, and stone, not wood. That ruled out burning a section down as a distraction. Which meant they were going over them, one way or another. He had bare a hundred men under his command over all, a scarce company, not even a proper ship full. But he'd seen how these Greek fought, and he and his men were not afraid of them. They advanced, keeping low and fast, closing the gap to the walls. The city had been at peace for too long, too secure in their dominance of the region through politics and planning. It was time to make a mess, and get what they were after. Three pronged hooks flew up, thrown by strong arms, falling onto the top of the wall. With sharp tugs, they made a firm contact, and men started to climb the ropes, heading for their appointed places. Ten roeps, each one supporting a team of ten. It didn't take long, and soon a company of warriors stood on the walls. A sentry came into sight, and promptly died with an arrow in his throat. Thorkell nodded to his archers, and moved on. Ten archers, one to each team, all had arrows nocked and ready as they prowled along the walls. The temple they sought was close to teh wall, far enough that it was a free standing building. Not far enough to prevent a strong man from jumping to it. Boots landing hard, Thorkell pointed to the edge of the rook closest to the wall, and more ropes were laid out, these ones spiked directly into the rock. Each man rappelled down to the ground, and stepped away, readying their weapons. Thorkell was the last one down, swinging his large shield to the fore. It was larger than average for a man of his people. A full four feet across, it looked more at home among the Greek hoplon shields. Backed by oak in the same way, this one was faced with iron, save for the boss, which had set Thorkell apart from other easily. The boss was chiselled stone. He pulled his axe free, a heavy weapon that most would be uncomfortable swinging in a single hand. With a grin, he touched the pendant around his neck, a silver hammer, and took a deep breath. Boys, let's go to work! He called. With a roar that shattered the quiet city air, they charged. The temple wasn't well guarded. Thorkell burst through the main doors, his men fanning out. There was gold here, there was always gold in temples. He saw a priestess shriek, and raise a warding hand before one of his men, Ragnar, rammed a sword through her chest. Temple staff ran about erratically, men chasing them with laughter echoing in the chamber. Axes and sword flashed in the dim light, holy women and men falling dead with each stroke. Others were busily stuffing whatever riches they could find into carry bags, before tossing full ones to other men in exchange for empties. It was a well planned raid. And now it was time to get the hell out of the city. Thorkel turned to go, but saw a priestess cowering in the corner, and he approached her. She whimpered as he drew near. Please...don't kill me... She pleaded, not meeting his eyes. Can you give me a reason not to? He askd her. His gruff voice did terrible things to the Greek language, but it was the best he could do. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. The...the Seer girl! She claims to see the future! The woman claimed suddenly. Thorkell smiled. Now that...that was something more valuable. Where is she? They left! Her and her mother! Their villa is down the road, not a full stadion! Thorkell had no idea what a stadion was, but he assumed it was some kind of distance, and not too large of one. He nodded to her. My thanks. May Hel greet you fondly. Her eyes widened as his axe swung forward, splitting her head in half. Let's go boys! One more stop to make on the way out! The company pounded down the street, in tight formation. The temple burned behind them. Stone it might be, but the amount of sacred oils within had let them set quite a blaze, adn it should keep people distracted for a while. Ahead he saw two women walking, one of them younger, and made the connection that it was most likely the Seer. He waved a hand forward, and one man sprinted forward, skidding to a halt, and drawing back his bow. The arrow flashed through the air, adn landed solidly in the meat of the thigh of the older woman, while the rest of the company roared forward. They were close, and Thorkell simply tucked his shield in, and used that impact to bowl the younger woman over.