Death Whistles: A Mercenary Quest

Lord Isaac Melchior was a lot less... impressive looking than you had imagined. He was a tiny man with long gray hair that went passed his shoulders. You had to admit though, his choice in attire was top notch. He was wearing a crimson and gold robe that probably cost a fortune.

You and the others gathered in a circle around him waiting for his announcement. To one side of him stood the lovely Lady Beatrix. On the other side was an elderly and bald man of average height dressed in a suit.

"I would like to formally thank you all for gathering here." Melchior began, breaking the silence. His voice itself was regal and immaculate. You were certain he was using magic somehow to amplify his voice as it seemed to echo throughout the area.

"I would like to ask you all to follow me as I go over todays events." He said before he started walking towards the backyard of castle. Beatrix and the bald man trailed behind him with everyone else following after them. In the mob of people you realized that at some point you had lost Braya.

Tsk. How unfortunate.

"I'd rather not beat around the bush. You are some exceptional soldiers, but you are not here for noble purposes. You're here for the fortune I have promised you for a job well-done." He said, venturing further into the backyard.

"Once we have completed the task of conquering the 7 kingdoms, all of you will have enough money to retire and never work again. I can assure that. Furthermore, in addition to the riches, you are also writing your place in history as the greatest warriors to ever live! You will always be remembered as the Melchior Empire that conquered all of Oz!"

He might be laying it on a bit thick right now...

"Unfortunately..." He paused, taking a glance back at the crowd before turning around. "We have some complications."

You realized as you were walking that you were a significant distance away from the castle, it was getting smaller and smaller by the second.

"You see I had sent personal letters to some of you, inviting you to visit my estate today and join my empire. Those of you here today are only the first of many recruits but you will make up the first division of my army."

"And for what I envisioned for my empire, the first division is supposed to the heart and muscle of my army. The most powerful soldiers in the empire! A division that upon arrival inspires fear in the hearts of enemies due to their overwhelming power. You are supposed to be the creme of the crop."


"But like I said, I sent 400 letters to the lot of you to meet me here today. My lovely daughter Beatrix has reported that there are 1200 of you here now."

You were under the impression everyone here got a letter like you. You felt a little bit special now.

"I did expect a slightly higher turn out due to the price I was offering for my services but not to this extent. I'm aware mercenaries talk and word of my offer got around. That is why the majority of you are here today. If you all had come for the 2nd division or any division except the first it would be fine. Unfortunately for some of you, you have chosen to come today."

There was uncomfortable murmur spreading throughout the crowd as you followed Melchior deeper into the acres of his backyard. You could no longer see his castle in the distance.

"The first division!" He exclaimed out of nowhere. "A force that will strike fear into the hearts of every man, woman, and child! We cannot afford to have weaklings tarnishing that image."

.....

"And for that reason I must eliminate some of you." He calmly stated as he stopped walking.

.....

"I'm willing to concede that there may be some individuals who came here unannounced that are extremely talented. And there may be some people I recruited whose abilities I overestimated. So we will solve both of those problems now."

Melchior along with Beatrix and the bald man stepped through the crowd towards a large oak tree.

"None of you are to pass this oak tree. I wish to keep this as far away from my castle as possible. You are free to go in the opposite direction as far as your heart desires."

I don't like where this is going...

"As I said there are 1200 of you here. My assistant Atticus is very proficient in using sensory magic to detect the presence of living individuals around him."

.....

"So, Atticus will alert me when 1200 has been brought down to 600 and then we can continue on with our testing."

There was a brief moment of silence to process what Melchior had asked of you before a random voice from the crowd screamed out, "What the hell!".

"Are you that deranged that you're asking us to kill each other for your entertainment?" The voice continued. "What kind of idiot kills his own potential soldiers for-"

"WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK KNAVE?" Melchior snapped, his voice booming across the land. His vein was popping out of his forehead and he was trembling in anger.

There was another brief moment of silence. Melchior gave a loud cough before regaining his composure.

"If you wish to run away, then feel free to do so now." He calmly said. "If not then what happens, happens. If you die here then you were never worthy to fight for my empire in the first place."

There were some murmurs and fidgeting from the crowd but no one left.

"Good. Now that we all understand each other, you have 5 minutes to spread yourself out across the fields. As I said before none of you are to pass this tree. In 5 minutes a bell will sound signaling for you to begin battle. When Atticus has informed me of the quota being reached, the bell will sound again signaling the end of battle. No one is to fight after the 2nd bell. Are we all understood?"

Silence

"Good. You have 5 minutes."

Choose your stats! The minimum for any given stat is 1 while the maximum is 100. You have 550 points to allocate between all of your stats.

Vote in plan format please.

[X] Plan
Durability:
Strength:
Speed:
Combat:
Weapon Skill:
Stamina:
Dexterity:
Intelligence:
Mana:
Spellcasting:

Total:

Plan Magic Boy Wins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You watched as complete pandemonium broke out on the fields. The were soldiers running in each and every direction trying to gain some separation from one another.

You quickly scanned the field as you tried to assess your options. It was pretty much open grass everywhere you looked. Out of the corner of your eye you spotted a grayish structure in the horizon. It looked like a boulder from here.

No more time to waste thinking. What am I gonna do?

[] Just stay where you are and get ready to defend yourself. There's no way you can avoid running into anyone with this many mercenaries in one area.

[] Look for the weakest looking soldiers and trail them. They should be easy enough to pick off once the test starts....

[] Hide behind the boulder and let these idiots kill each other. If you run for the boulder now you might be able to make it before the bell goes off...