Zero Hour

[Bjorn]

Ah.  That's how it is, then.

Bjorn readies his swords, still charging in.

[Brian]

He doesn't put out a hand, or say a word of power, or do anything else that you can discern other than continue trudging towards the keep.  But both Bjorn and Nathan find themselves suspended in midair, being towed along a few meters behind him as he walks towards the keep.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn struggles briefly, but quickly realizes the futility of it.  Instead, he relaxes, keep himself ready, and stares at the man watchfully.

[Brian]

He doesn't put out a hand, or say a word of power, or do anything else that you can discern other than continue trudging towards the keep.  But both Bjorn and Nathan find themselves suspended in midair, being towed along a few meters behind him as he walks towards the keep.  He ignores you, then, until he's about fifty meters from the keep.

"Good people of Stormwall!" he calls out, looking up at the crowded ramparts.  "In the future, I suggest you keep your dogs on leashes."

With that, he sends both Bjorn and Rezantiz hurtling towards the battlements.  Luckily, Alec, Eric, and Phil manage to grab the pair at the apex of the throw, and pull them back onto the ramparts.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn sheathes his swords, once put on his feet, and moves to the edges of the rampart.  He still doesn't say anything, but instead, simply watches the man like a hawk.

[Rezantis]

Rez lands, and steps back to the rampart wordlessly, leaning on the edge and looking irritable.

[Brian]

The man chuckles, to the silence on the ramparts.  "Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Elric.  The Undying."  He grins, his voice carrying to everyone on the ramparts, and apparently, the towers above.

"Thought I'd just drop in ... say hello to my neighbors.  See how you were doing," he says.  "Also, wanted to catch up on things ... see how everything has been."  He buffs his nails on his white cloak.  "I see that two days into the siege, you've lost a hero ... your guard captain is incapacitated ... and your replacement heroes are like small dogs.  Great big bark ... but no real bite."

Kevin growls at this, but says nothing.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn doesn't acknowledge the insults.  He doesn't really acknowledge anything.  Instead, he studies the man, memorizing his face, the pattern of his armour, the sound of his voice.  He bends his ears to listen to the undertones of the man's voice, listening for confidence, for bluffs, for hidden meanings.  His face is a blank portrait of focus, as he stares down, unblinking, from the ramparts.

[Rezantis]

Rez calls back.

"Whereas you, two days into the siege, have lost two generals in no time flat, a stack of supply caravans, a fair whack of jotun, about . . . a hundred thousand or so orcs? And, so sorry, how many of us did you get for that score?"

[Brian]

"But I see you're curious about how I'm doing," he says, shrugging.  "Well, that's complicated.  See, I'm a child of an elder god, and therefore, kept busy by a demanding father.  He'd like to see a new game ... so your defeat is inevitable.

"Therefore, we've decided to give you this chance to evacuate, and flee.  Once you do so ... you have a chance of living a relatively normal life.  Or not, at the whim of those more powerful than even I.

"But, you're a stuborn lot -- that happens with people who aren't very bright, and have short attention spans.  If you continue fighting us, you will find that our allies are stronger than you can dream ... an Archon has joined us, and a Dwarf.  And we've already the greatest of the Jotun.

"Again, your loss is inevitable.  Even if you succeed in destroying every minion in the army behind me, and then, killing all of my generals ... you cannot kill me.  If it comes to that, on the final day, I will become the general.  And since I cannot die, you cannot win.  Alone, if I must, I will crush all of you.

"But I am human, and therefore give you the merciful chance to flee."  He smiles.  "Be pleased that tonight we will nail one of my army to the stones outside of your bowshot.  He will be the general, and you will have until he perishes to rest.  To flee.  Because you cannot win.

"I've made my point, as your dogs have demonstrated.  I stand before you, alone, vulnerable, immortal.  Appease your anger on my mortal frame," he concludes, throwing his arms wide.

Dorian Shivershaft blurs into action, firing three arrows in rapid succession -- all the other archers join the assault, thousands of arrows converging on a single man.  The lorekeepers on the towers throw flame, lightning, ice, and things that you've never seen before....  And even though Elric is struck dead and sundered, and worse, he continues to stand to one side, still smiling.

After a minute, Lord Kevin shouts, "Enough!" and the assault trickles to a halt, the last few sheepish shafts and bolts of energy adding another corpse to the formidible pile that Elric sits on impatiently.

[Bjorn]

"Anger?"  Bjorn says -- not shouting, but pitching his voice to carry.  "We have no anger.  It is not rage which fuels us, or hate.  It is determination.  We will not fail, because we have chosen not to let failure be an option for us."

He looks down at Elric, impassively.  "Tonight we will kill any and all that you throw against us, and then we will kill your 'general.'  The moon shall rise again, and we will still be standing here.  And the same shall repeat every night.  Even if you make yourself general, you will find that while you might be undying, you can and will be broken."

Indifferently, he looks towards the sky.  "The moon will set soon.  You should get back to your friends and find your hammer and nails, so that you can pin your general to his rock.  Or would you rather I came and did it for you?"

[Brian]

"Very impressive," Elric says flatly.  "As a mercy, I won't kill any of you."  He turns to eye Bjorn specifically.  "But don't push what little luck you have," he warns, before turning around, hopping across the pile of his own corpses until he reaches the ground, and then slowly, deliberately, and calmly walking away.

[Rezantis]

"As a mercy?" Rez says, and snorts, then turns to Bjorn and continues talking with a conversational tone as the man walks away.

"He wasn't wearing any armour, you know, despite what it looked like - my blade didn't even react. I think that he himself was a very nicely done illusion . . ." he trails off, thinking.

[Bjorn]

"Unlikely," Bjorn says, "given what Master Radagast has said about the nature of illusions."

Still expressionless, he turns to Kevin.  "We need to get a small force on the field," he says, quickly but calmly.  "If he was telling the truth -- which seems likely -- we will need to get someone behind the Dreadmarch lines to kill the 'general.'"  The sarcastic emphasis on that words is no less obvious for its understatement.  "The easiest way to do that, I think, is to get a few men chosen for stealth as much as for combat on the field now, before the moon sets.  With any luck, they will be able to make their way around to the general.

"Failing that, we need to stick to the plan we've already established.  The earthenworks, the blinding attack of Mistress Astryd, the trebuchets -- the more damage we can do before having to engage the forces, the better."

[Dracos]

Dracos, during all of this, is watching carefully, cooly, analyzing the 'undying one's' motions and trying to 'see' what he was able to see before, grabbing for the capability of viewing unseen 'mystical' traits.

Dracos