Well that sucks. Is it bad enough that I should start moving images I care about from imgur to somewhere else, or should I just avoid using imgur in the future?
Well that sucks. Is it bad enough that I should start moving images I care about from imgur to somewhere else, or should I just avoid using imgur in the future?
The Empire should remind itself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
When's the last time they've mobilized like this against more than bandits? Honest question, I'm curious and if it's been brought up before I've forgotten.
The Empire should remind itself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
When's the last time they've mobilized like this against more than bandits? Honest question, I'm curious and if it's been brought up before I've forgotten.
They have to deal with decent sized monster outbreaks from the Black Forest every now and then, but the last big war they fought was against the Felicians about fifty years previously. It wasn't the biggest of the Felician Wars, but there were troops drawn from most of the Empire to fight against a large alliance of clans that had pushed south of the river that marks the border between the Empire and the Ocean of Grass.
The Empire won that particular war pretty decisively, but Emperor Thaddeus prevented the victorious army from launching a full counter-invasion in hopes of trying to build towards a lasting peace between humans and Felicians. Unfortunately, as his other peace efforts floundered, that one fell by the wayside.
So, the only game that explicitly provides a _tactician_ who is not also a _combatant_ is Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword. Here's what it has to say about a particularly adept player, emphasis mine:
"A tactician whose brilliance changed the course of history. Bern and Etruria so desired this skilled mind that they went to war."
In another history, this goes a lot worse for the Kingdoms. But we're not in that history. Are we?
Yeah, I mean, we had a good plan, we had the Initiative, and we could actually deny them Air Superiority between the Whitewings and Ryza being Ryza, we have mobility and they're in hostile terrain, this very much should be the kind of thing where getting fancy goes very poorly for them.
Honestly, the part I like is just getting them on the backfoot without having to break out any power beyond what humans can do, it makes it a lot harder for anyone in the know who isn't already invested in "EMPIRE BY JINGO" to blame it on a Dragon.
Again, this is the job of any tactician in any military - to set up one-sided maulings. It may not play well with the "honor and glory" crowd, but reality DGAF about honor or glory.
Again, this is the job of any tactician in any military - to set up one-sided maulings. It may not play well with the "honor and glory" crowd, but reality DGAF about honor or glory.
The trick is in setting up opportunities where you can get an unfair fight without exposing yourself to one. BOTH IS turn-based-strategic-warfare game series' encourage this behavior. Because you can lose a fair fight. That's how you know it's fair. But we don't want to lose, now do we?
[X] Go with Angela and her flight to challenge the wyverns. That's something the four of you alone can deal with. Axton and Lancel will be okay, surely, they're both tough, they know what they're doing…
-[X] Fight in your heart-form.
"Never grow overconfident in battle. Even the most certain of victories can be turned around in an instant by the will of the spirits."
-Marquess Wachenberg
For an instant, you hesitate, your eyes locked on where Axton and Lancel are running away from a seemingly endless horde of Imperials who want to kill them. You left them behind once before, can you really-
'But we have to fight the wyverns!' Dragon-you snarls. 'That's what you said we had to do! Stop changing our mind when we're in the middle of something!'
'But-' you start, only to realize she's right. Those wyverns are something only you and the Whitewings can fight. Artemis and the others seem to mostly be doing alright, and the supporting groups are moving up to help Axton and Lancel. True, they're not moving in quite the right direction, but they should be able to make it there eventually. Hopefully they'd be able to sort everything out on the ground.
Swallowing and forcing yourself to trust your friends, you turn and fly with Angela and company towards the flaming wings that mark the approaching wyvern riders. Glancing at your companions, you see Angela waving to get your attention before making a few exaggerated hand signals. "Hit high…" you mutter as you translate to yourself. "Okay."
Flapping hard, you shoot higher. You can see the plan, your smaller size and slightly darker coloration will probably keep the Imperials from noticing your presence until it's too late. Wyverns can see decently in the dark since they're related to dragons, but these ones are following the directions of humans that can't see in the dark. Mother willing, the delay between the wyvern noticing you and it being able to convince its rider you're a problem will give you the opening you need.
Win by more than 6: Kill both wyverns, catch all stragglers from other groups
You let out a small breath as you see both wyverns accelerate, spreading out just enough to give each other space to maneuver while still covering each other's wings. They seem utterly focused on Angela and the other Whitewings, who had dropped slightly lower to further draw the Imperials' attention away from you. You tense up as you see one of the wyverns look in your direction and starts to flap harder to mirror your rise, but her rider taps her neck with his lance before accelerating, causing her to refocus on the approaching pegasus knights.
You sigh; it seems that even after centuries of riding and working with wyverns, humans haven't figured out that just because they think in the short term like a dragon-self doesn't mean they're wrong.
Well, you suppose that's to your benefit tonight.
Beginning to glide, you twist in midair so that your body blocks the majority of the lightning starting to gather around your hands. Swallowing, you build your first feedback loop as Angela and friends split up, starting their frantic-looking circling motions. This time, however, there are two wyvern riders against them, so one immediately turns to go after Angela while the other chases Bucephila and Alexandra, forcing the formation to split up.
"You bitches have really gotten cocky!" you hear one of the Imperials say as you finish your feedback loop and pump the energy into Thunder's Cry, causing it to begin sparking and flaring. "Think that just 'cause you were able to flap around a bit with your rebel friends-"
Spinning in midair, you take a second to aim your Arcthunder blast at the speaking knight. Whether by sheer luck or Angela's maneuvering, he'd just started turning, giving you the biggest possible target for your spell. His wyvern recognizes the threat a moment before her rider and she instantly tries to evade, but by then it's too late. In a crash of thunder, several large lightning bolts stab into the creature's wings and spines, overwhelming the Red flight magic and causing the flames within to go out even as the wyvern and rider both convulse as Yellow magic ravages their systems.
"Nice shot, Ryza," Angela calls cheerfully as she twists into a dive of her own, following the flailing wyvern down for a moment. You're about to ask why, only to grimace as she jabs her lance into the back of the wyvern's skull, right where the neck meets the head. If there was any chance that the pair would be able to recover from your spell, she took that away. "Get out of our skies, scumbag!"
A part of you starts to shy away from the sight of something that looks so much like a part of you dying, but your other self pushes you onwards. Twisting, you look over to see how the other Whitewings are doing. With only two of them, they haven't been able to do the same hit-and-run dance as the could as a full flight, but thankfully they weren't trying to. Instead, they're simply keeping their distance… and as the surviving wyvern knight realized that he was in a far worse position than he'd thought, they swing around in front of him to block his escape. The wyvern takes the bait, snapping at Alexandra before shooting a jet of flame at Bucephila. This gives you and Angela time to join them. Rather than charge up a full Arcthunder, you simply weave a quick Elthunder which you send into the fleeing wyvern. You couldn't let him escape, you had to stop him!
The draconic cousin roared in pain as your lighting hit it, but before any of the Whitewings could jump in and finish him off he rolled over and sent a ball of fire flying your way. Yelping, you spin aside, but the burst of Red magic catches the hem of your cloak, and you spend the next few seconds flailing and panicking and trying to put it out!
Thankfully, while you were busy, Angela and friends weren't. Diving in, they use the furious, agonized wyvern's thrashing to jab at its vulnerable points, most importantly its rider. With a cry, the man's saddle-harnesses are severed with a few well-aimed stabs and cuts, causing him to fall off. Instantly, the wyvern abandons all attempts at fighting back, instead diving to catch its rider before he hits the ground. While heroic, the move is ultimately doomed, as the three pegasi dive faster and a moment later, two lances stab behind the wyvern's flaming wings while a third strikes in the vulnerable point at the base of the skull, causing the burning membranes to go dark as the wyvern topples from the sky, landing with a crunch on its rider, surely crushing him.
"You okay?" Bucephila asked as she rejoins you.
You nod; you'd managed to use your own Red magic to starve the flames licking up your cloak. There's a nasty singe that'll have to be fixed, but it's not that bad. "Are you all alright too?" you ask. "I have healing-"
"We're good," Angela cuts in, her eyes scouring the darkness. "Quick, what's the situation, we finished those lizards fast enough that we should be able to deal with any other runners!"
Nodding quickly, you turn to see how your other friends are doing.
RESULT: Win by more than 6: Kill or capture entire group, can catch one escapee from another group
You let out a breath of relief as you see that Axon and Lancel seem to have recovered from their bad start. While the cavaliers are still chasing them, it seems that the heavy armor they wear, while granting them good protection, also slows them down. While your Agrithian friends seem to be almost as blind in the darkness (with one yeomen nearly unhorsing himself on a low-hanging branch), their lighter outfits and weapons mean that they're able to stay mostly organized.
Axton also seems to be taking the lead, weaving through the trees rapidly to try and keep everyone together. After a few seconds, however, the Agrithians seem to be breaking up, and you're just about to get worried when you realize that the Imperial cavaliers, with their own trouble seeing in the dark, don't seem to have noticed the split. Instead, they just keep chasing the smaller group.
It takes you a second to realize what the plan is, but as you watch the cluster of Imperial yeomen following in the wake of their cavalier allies and trying to line up another volley, stumble straight into the ambush of Axton's group… who had all drawn their short swords while their opponents still have their bows out. You wince, even at this distance you can smell the blood and hear the screams. Apparently, guys with sharp metal weapons do really well against guys with long, curved sticks with string on them in short range.
The cavaliers reacte quickly, but Axton had either timed his attack really well, or the Mother was smiling particularly brightly upon those who fought for freedom, as they had just entered a particularly thick section of trees. As they turned to try and rush to their allies' aid, the Imperials got tangled up in each other, Lancel was able to turn his own group of yeomen around, bows raised to start sending arrow volleys into the less-armored sides of their opponents horses. That seems to no longer be a fight the Imperials can win. (Imperial Reinforcement Roll: 3/6)
'Good,' your other self growls. 'We need to press the attack; there are more Imperials coming from the south.' You glance in that direction, quickly running a few calculations in your head. While they're clearly coming this way (likely having seen the wyverns deaths and your lightning), they seem to be far enough away that they aren't an immediate threat. Quickly, you go back to scanning the current fights as Angela gives a huff in your direction.
RESULT: Win by more than 6: Kill or capture entire group, can catch one escapee from another group
Just like with Axton and Lancel, the cavaliers trying to force Artemis and her horse archers into a melee fight were starting to slow down as the momentum of their charge faded. Unlike your other group of friends, however, the Imperials' numbers had already been thinned enough that Artemis doesn't have to do anything fancy. She leads her own soldiers and the enemy to an open area, one with few trees, before split up her group. They then form a concave around the Imperials so that they can keep shooting into them without risking hitting each other. Any time the tired horsemen try to charge a section of the Agrithian line, that section falls back, allowing the others parts of the line to advance, keeping the whole group of Imperials hemmed in.
Before long, the Imperials seem to decide that they'd had enough, turning to try and ride out of the trap. However, Artemis and the others are easily able to keep up, and soon those few that are still on their horses are dropping their weapons. You're too far away to see details, but you relax slightly when you see your friend lowering her bow for a moment before waving a hand down, ordering a few of her fellows forwards to begin disarming and dealing with the Imperials. It seems that situation is resolved.
Just one other thing to worry about. You quickly turn in place to see how Count Sobieski is doing.
RESULT: Win by more than 6: Kill or capture entire group, can catch one escapee from another group
That battle seems to have mostly finished already. The Parvei nobleman had used the fence to repel a few more attempts by the Imperials to jump over, keeping the majority of the heavily-armored attackers from getting too close. The Imperial horse archers were trying to shoot Count Sobieski and his partner off their horses, and you flinch as you see a few arrows strike true… but either because his noble-forged armor is exceptionally strong or he's just really, really tough, he's able to stay in his saddle even as he and his fellow fight off those cavaliers that make it over.
This seems to have been at least somewhat by design, as he is able to draw arrows away from the yeomen with him. That means they're able to take their shots well, and unlike the Imperials they aim more for the horses than for the people riding them. You grimace as the sounds of wounded, screaming horses reaches your ears, but you're able to keep your dragon-self in check from rushing off. The important thing is that, while the battle isn't completely over yet, it's clear that after the arrival of the rapidly-approaching reserve groups those Imperials won't be doing any better than the others.
"Ryza?" Angela hisses, and you feel her lightly wack your leg with the butt of her lance. "What's going on?!"
You force yourself back to the moment, though you're unable to completely keep the irritated hiss and glare from escaping the part of your mind that's a dragon in a fighting mood. "Everything seems to be fine," you say as the Whitewing flinches back slightly. "I think just about every one of our friends has won their battle, and that was even before the reinforcements showed up."
As you speak, Phoebe's unit manages to find their way to Count Sobieski's fight, seemingly inadvertently striking just as a group of Imperial cavaliers had finally managed to force their way over the fence. There's a tangle of confused horses and warriors, but by the time things clear up the few Imperials that aren't on the ground are trying to flee. However, with a group of fresh yeomen hot on their hooves, they don't get very far. Meanwhile, the troubadour who'd been with Phoebe quickly starts trotting her horse around, and you see flickers of White magic flaring as she tries to patch up anyone, Imperial or Kingdomer, who's badly injured.
"Okay, everything's clear, at least until those Imperial reinforcements arrive," you say, quickly throwing out a few details.
Angela nods. "Great!" she says before pointing towards Bucephila and Alexandra. "You two, go let Lady Artemis and Count Sobieski know about the enemy reinforcements, we need to hit them fast before they can figure out that we've wiped out this entire section of their perimeter guard! Ryza, you and I're going to keep an eye on them, make sure they don't send any runners!
"Right!" you say, turning and falling in on the more experienced skirmisher's wing as she turns and starts circling around towards the new group.
As you fly, you spot a single Imperial rider splitting away from the rest of the approaching group and turning back. "Someone's trying to go warn the others!" you say quickly to Angela, flying just enough ahead to point.
She looks through the darkness with a grim smile. "Good eye, kid," she says. "One of the big advantages the Imps have is that their wyverns can see in the dark a bit, so night fighting's hard for us. It's really nice to be on the other side of that for once!" Nudging Peri's sides, she drops into a shallow dive. "Let's deal with him quick so we can go back and help the others. Let me try first, if we can avoid flashing lightning that'd be great."
"Okay," you say, wishing you'd had time to study Black magic so that you could be more helpful. Really, you just wish you'd had time to study magic in general, rather than having to run around trying to keep the humans from causing themselves unnecessary problems!
You wonder if that's how the Arbiters had felt.
Shaking your head, you concentrate on the moment as you follow Angela. At this range, even she seems to be able to see the Imperial, and thanks to pegasi's quiet wings he doesn't seem to have a clue. Setting her lance, the Whitening dives in. You hold your breath, but Angela's aim is true, and a moment later the man is thrown off his horse by the force of her blow, the prongs below the head the only thing that keeps the lance from getting stuck. "Nice!" Angela cheers herself as she pulls up, leaving the horse to gallop off in panic.
"Should we stop it?" you ask, pointing after the fleeing mount.
"Nah, horses aren't as smart as pegasi," she says as she turns back. "It'll get lost and wander back into the Imperial camp long after we're gone." She shakes her head. "Besides, we should get back to make sure there are no other leaks." You nod quickly and fall in behind her again.
By the time you get back, you see the Imperial reinforcements pulling up to a halt at the top of a small rise, their leader looking tense as his horse paces back and forwards beneath him. You don't know if they're saying anything, but you can see his helmeted head turning back and forwards.
Thankfully, he doesn't seem to be able to see the yeomen moving carefully forwards, relying on the distance, darkness and their mottled green cloaks to keep them hidden. It seems that Artemis's group, Axton and Lancel's group, and Princess Alina's groups have formed a rough concave as they approached. In the sky above them were Alexandra and Bucephila.
Quickly pointing them out to Angela, your friend nods. "Good," she says. "The Imps will probably notice them soon, but hopefully not until they've gotten close enough to force an engagement. We'll just have to make sure that they can't run away." She throws you a grin. "A few lightning bolts dropping between themselves and safety should do it if they try to make a break for it."
"Alright," you say, though you also run a finger along your dragonstone in your pocket, just in case. This group is a bit smaller than the others, and you don't see or sense anyone particularly dangerous, but you want to be ready just in case.
A tense minute or two passes, though it feels like hours, as the Kingdom yeomen approach the Imperials, still thankfully remaining hidden from human vision. You look up, thanking the Mother for the helpful clouds that have moved in to cover the stars.
Your attention is drawn back to the ground as the Imperial sends a pair of his riders down, clearly intent on trying to figure out where his friends in the other groups were. Unfortunately for them, their path takes them straight towards Princess Alina's group, and a moment later you see her jerk her hand. Before either of the Imperials can realize what's about to happen, a volley of arrows strikes the pair down. As shouts and cries rise from the Imperials still on the hill, the Northern princess rides forwards, a ball of light forming above her as she raises her voice.
"Imperials, I am Princess Alina Sundaughter-Hornglade!" she calls, somehow making her voice carry across the distance. "You and your Regent, by lies, deception and mercenaries, attempted to abduct not only myself, but many of my friends and compatriots among the Free Kingdoms of the North. Failing that, you invaded us directly. While Sol Invictus and her people desire peace, there must be consequences for wrongful aggression!" The other Kingdom groups accelerate, the sound of their hooves filling the air. "And yet, I can be merciful. Throw down your weapons, and I promise you your lives. Resist, and you will be destroyed."
You hear Angela's dark chuckle. "I think I like her," the Whitewing says. "But I think that was your cue."
"Oh, right!" you say, weaving your Yellow magic. As the Imperials, clearly recognizing that this was not a fight they could win, start to turn and gallop away, you first channel your magic and feed it back through your own will, then into the tablet, until finally a massive Arcthunder slams into the ground at the bottom of the hill in front of them, sending many of their horses stumbling and panicking at the sudden bright flash and loud noise.
"Hey, Imps!" Angela shouts as she circles a bit lower, waving her lance as Bucephila and Alexandra rejoin the pair of you. "I assure you, we're not nearly as friendly as the nice girl over there!" Taking your cue, you start flaring Yellow magic about yourself, ensuring that some feeds into your wings. Lancel had said that was really intimidating when he saw you do it back home, hopefully the Imperials would too! "So tell me, punks, are you feeling lucky!?"
It turned out, as many of the Imperials started to scatter away only to see Kingdom yeomen moving to block their lines of retreat, they weren't.
"I'm really glad that all worked…" you say as you sit behind Artemis on Actaeon. The battle between the advance force and the scouts had ended a couple of hours ago, and thankfully there weren't any other signs of Imperial scouts, leaving the way open for you to reach their camp. Remaining hidden amidst a grove of trees that was close enough to watch them while far enough away to remain undetected, you have a good view of your target.
Similar to the Kingdom war-camp, there is an interior walled section on a small hill, though the Imperial version is smaller. The majority of the soldiers are in and around countless tents laid out in neat, organized rows going down and around said hill. You're honestly a little impressed, unlike the patchwork mish-mash of different groups that the Kingdom camp was made of, or even the chaotic-seeming Talon camp, it looks like these Imperials worked very hard to make sure that everything had a place and everything was in its place. Detected?: DC 11-11=Fail only on 1s: 13, 2, 17 Total Success
You almost felt bad about the fact that you were going to mess it up. You don't see any signs that they know what's about to happen to them, which bodes very badly for them.
'Well, if they didn't want us messing up their fancy little mobile homes,' your other self thinks. 'They shouldn't have been such jerks! Come on, what are we waiting for?!'
You poke yourself mentally. 'Waiting for Kelton and Belle and the rest of the walkers to get here!' you say. You force yourself not to worry about the fact that they seem to be taking longer to get here than you'd thought they would. Angela and company had gone looking for them, they'd find them and get everything back on track. You'd offered to do it yourself, but Artemis had asked that you stay and see what important-looking things you you could point out in the Imperial camp, since you're the only person who can really see in the dark.
'We could take them ourselves…' Dragon-you grumbles, but she subsides as Artemis reaches back and ruffles your hair.
"I'm glad it worked too, Ryza," she says, "You did great."
Preening slightly, you wrap your arms around her. "You did too," you say. "Angela, Bucephila, Alexandra and I only had those two wyverns to deal with, you had to face a whole bunch of guys…"
She snorts. "I had to face a bunch of half-trained levies and their accompanying men-at-arms," she says. "There wasn't even a properly trained nobleman or professional soldier guiding them, they had no clue what they were doing." She grins. "But now, it seems that everything's working out well. We can only hope Alejandro won't be utterly insufferable about his plan going so well when he arrives."
"My dear Artemis!" the myrmidon-lord says as he approaches, his hand over his heart. "I am positively delightful! I would never, ever be insufferable! Certainly not to lovely ladies such as yourself and your little friend!"
Your friend rolls her eyes. "Well, it seems like you've finally arrived at least," she says, giving a nod to Kelton, who's moves around the noble to stand near you. "What took you all so long?"
Looking past Alejandro, you see that the infantry portion of the Kingdom army is trickling in, you must have been more distracted than you'd thought to have missed them. Ranks of axe-wielding Agrithian fighters are in front, looking pleased that they finally get to do something rather than sitting back as the yeomen solve all their kingdom's problems. Behind them, a disorganized-looking mob of Rignali swordsmen and archers seem to be barely restraining themselves from launching the charge all by themselves.
Of the Parves soldiers, there is no sign. Nor do you see Belle. Arrival of infantry: DC 5: roll 11 3, 18: Partial Success
Clearly recognizing your worried look, Alejandro gives you a wry smile. "Do please forgive our clanky neighbors' absence," he says. "They got a little turned around trying to get over some rough terrain, which delayed us all until dear Dame Belle agreed to stay and keep them moving. They should arrive soon, in time to finish up what we've started."
"She even did it with minimal grumbling," Kelton says, reaching up and patting your arm. "Though that was probably because she was so happy she was getting to yell at people and not be called out on it!"
Giggling, you slip off Actaeon's back and glide to the ground. "Aw, she's not that bad," you say. "But I'm glad you all made it."
"Indeed," Alejandro says, moving up to peer at the camp. "So," he says. "It looks like we're in the clear," he says, his voice turning serious. "Once we've gotten everyone organized, we'll need to hit hard and fast to do as much damage as we can. We probably can't wipe out the whole army, sadly, but we should be able to utterly route it from our current position." He looks up at you. "Might I make a suggestion, Mistress Levinheart?"
You nod. "Of course," you say.
"You, Dame Angela and her companions should focus on trying to eliminate any important targets you can find, while Lady Artemis, I and the main army cause chaos and send the main army running with their tails between their legs. You'll be able to move far faster and more aggressively, and with your ability to see in the dark you should be able to find them quickly and efficiently."
Looking at Artemis, you see her frown but slowly nod. "He's right," she says. "That will be very helpful, but be careful. While we'll be causing enough problems for the Imperials that you shouldn't have too hard of a time, some of the targets I can think of off the top of my head might be dangerous." She grimaces. "You know yourself best… but I think this might be the time to call the big girl out."
You nod, your thoughts racing. "So what should I be looking for?" you ask.
As the various Kingdom soldiers prepare for their own attack, you listen attentively as Artemis, Kelton, and the other nobles and leaders give you occasionally-conflicting advice on what you should do and who you should look to take out. It gets a bit confusing and frustrating, but by the time the attack is ready you have a workable list of targets in mind.
Lifting off with the Whitewings and leading the way towards the Imperial camp, you take a deep breath, drawing strength from your dragon and the knowledge that you're doing the right thing.
It was time to show the Empire why they fear your people!
(Please vote by plan.)
How do you fight?
[] Artemis is right, the time to call upon your dragon is now. Feed her enough emotions to ensure that she can complete the mission set before her, then let her loose. 'I swear, I will ensure that these people can no longer threaten us or ours!'
-[] Which emotion do you use? (Anger, Determination or Fear)?
[] You hesitate to commit your dragon immediately; there is so much that could change so fast. No, better to hold her in reserve at first, ready in case something goes wrong and you need to point her at a very specific problem. The only risk is that the delay in going all-out might make things harder, but you're sure you can manage.
-[] Do you use Bolting to bombard your targets from a distance, or fly directly with Angela and the other Whitewings?
What are your targets? (Choose as many as you want, putting them in order from most important to least important. The longer a target is left alone, the harder it will be to engage. Also, there might be reasons why you can't hit all of them…)
[] By the sound of it, the Duke of the Northlands, Lord-General Wellingford, is leading this army personally. While he is apparently a Wyvern Lord, if you can find and eliminate him, it would be a devastating blow to the Empire. This will be somewhat risky to you, but if all else fails you can fly for cover from Artemis and her bows.
[] Grimly, Alina points towards a set of flags and tents that look out of place. "Lord Starhelm is here," she says. "While he has betrayed the ideals of the Kingdoms, he does have a claim to his lands, one that is causing us… difficulties, with some of his people. If you could capture him and bring him to us, then we could cut off that risk." That would be difficult, but if you could pull it off, that would be good, right? (Cannot be chosen if Bolting is used).
[] Near the heart of the camp is a collection of tents of wounded soldiers and the healers tending them. Eliminating these targets is… distasteful to you, but maybe you can scare them into surrendering and not healing anyone who gets hurt by the rest of the attack. If not… well, getting rid of them will help Artemis, so dragon-you insists it's okay.
[] With the tension between the Marble Hall and Wyrmrise, there are not nearly as many mages as usual in an Imperial army. Those that are here, as is tradition, have their own section of the camp. If you were to strike this point, it would deal a major blow to the Empire's ability to field magic users to counter your own abilities. They'll fight back, but you think you can do it.
[] If there's one thing you've learned from the march up north, it's that large groups of humans can't get very far without supplies. Which means that the Imperials have to have a bunch of them stored somewhere. If you were to find and destroy that, you'd be able to really make life difficult for them even after you and the Kingdom soldiers are forced to leave. It should be relatively safe to do.
[] Lacking natural weapons and innate magic, humans are forced to use tools to fight. Since you don't want these humans to be able to hurt anyone, removing their tools would be a good idea, and like the food and other supplies it shouldn't be that hard.
[] Scattered around the outside of the camp are several wyvern nests, some of which are occupied. While you don't think you'd be able to kill all of them, if you were to anger and scare them, they'd go into a fury that would make the Imperials unable to mount or control them. While they will still be dangerous, they'll be far easier for the Agrithian archers to deal with when acting in a feral frenzy, and they might even get into fights with Imperials who get in their way.
[] From your vantage point, you can see that the Imperials have set up a few wooden towers in their camp, especially around the walled area at the top of their hill. From what your friends told you, those are sentry towers that will not only keep an eye on the surroundings, but act as hard points for the soldiers to rally around. While Artemis and the others insist they'll be fine, if you could take a few of those out, that would make life easier for them.
[] You trust your friends. You really do. You also know just how devastating surprise can be; the panic-stricken moments of your father hustling you through your home as Mother threw herself in front of the cruel, mad manaketes who had come to kill you all was still a scar in your mind. However, you also remember that surprise can be overcome, and if the Imperials start to really fight back your friends could be hurt. If you were to use your power to sow general chaos among the Imperials as they try to rally… well, that would mean there'd be less time for them to gather together to fight back.
This is where our meta-knowledge and our in-character knowledge is going to come into conflict.
We pop the Dragon Button and we will be jumped by a fucking high level, Sealed Dragonslayer who nobody knew was supposed to be here (Because he wasn't supposed to be here), but if we don't do it, this'll get a lot nastier. Though not as bad as it could be due to us having near total surprise on them despite the best efforts of the Dice Gods.
You sigh; it seems that even after centuries of riding and working with wyverns, humans haven't figured out that just because they think in the short term like a dragon-self doesn't mean they're wrong.
[] Artemis is right, the time to call upon your dragon is now. Feed her enough emotions to ensure that she can complete the mission set before her, then let her loose. 'I swear, I will ensure that these people can no longer threaten us or ours!'
[] By the sound of it, the Duke of the Northlands, Lord-General Wellingford, is leading this army personally. While he is apparently a Wyvern Lord, if you can find and eliminate him, it would be a devastating blow to the Empire. This will be somewhat risky to you, but if all else fails you can fly for cover from Artemis and her bows.
[] Scattered around the outside of the camp are several wyvern nests, some of which are occupied. While you don't think you'd be able to kill all of them, if you were to anger and scare them, they'd go into a fury that would make the Imperials unable to mount or control them. While they will still be dangerous, they'll be far easier for the Agrithian archers to deal with when acting in a feral frenzy, and they might even get into fights with Imperials who get in their way.
I agree with Arty - it's probably Dragon Time. I'm hesitant to risk fighting a Promoted human alone, though - at least right now. I personally feel like the best spot to put her is actually the CHAOS option - our other objectives are all things Heart Ryza is perfectly capable of handling, but there are few better ways to make our enemy's day worse than SUDDENLY DRAGONS to the middle of your frontline. We can even literally transform directly above them for maximum element of surprise! After that, grab Starhelm and if we somehow haven't been ambushed by someone who's a threat yet, go for the armory so anyone who isn't quick on their feet will be unarmed.
Determination again feels like the best choice - Fear and Anger both feel like they have very specific use cases, and this ain't it.
It's best to keep this fight conventional, yeah. We've stacked the deck so aggressively in our favor, and achieved Total Surprise despite the best efforts of the dice gods, that I think we have the option of winning a conventional battle, especially if we play our cards right. It'll keep their ringer out of play--or at least force him to have to reveal himself first instead of our first warning being "High level Dragonslayer jumping your ass from a blind spot, which lets us to the Sudden Reversal if he gets involved in a fight where the Empire has literally no causus belli that wasn't flagrantly and caught being manufactured, when nothing's been brought out that should warrant him getting involved. He answers only to the Emperor, and thus, him getting stuck in when there's no Dragon on the field is very much him effectively getting the current Emperor's approval of the current war, and that changes the calculus dramatically. Right now, all this shit can be blamed on the Regent doing a power grab on an underaged Emperor. If someone who answers only to the Emperor weighs in on that topic without damn good reason, then that suddenly becomes "The Emperor is backing this", and that Escalates Matters to a point beyond return--and he should know this. The calculus changes if he's just jumping a Dragon, and that gives him legitimate reason to intervene.
I'll think on this, but I think our best bet is to use our current state of Absolute Surprise to foment as much chaos in the enemy ranks as possible. Set the Wyverns into a frenzy before they can be deployed to buy us time and maintain air support, take out their stores and their supplies, and even if we withdraw, their ability to continue fighting has dropped almost to nothing, that'll be game for the entire army unless they can just magic more supplies in--which should be very difficult for them.
@SoaringHawk218 , a question comes to mind. Does Ryza think she'd need to get close to scare the Wyverns? Or does she think she could Bolt them into the desired panic?
On further consideration, this actually might be the time to go full Dragon. But focus on removing their ability to do violence rather than go for maximum kills
Hit their supplies, their weapons, and set their Wyverns packing from sheer Dragonfear. Then we pull back. That'll throw him for a loop.
[X] Plan: Can't Invade us with no supplies and no weapons, can you?
-[X] Artemis is right, the time to call upon your dragon is now. Feed her enough emotions to ensure that she can complete the mission set before her, then let her loose. 'I swear, I will ensure that these people can no longer threaten us or ours!'
--[X] Determination
-[X] Scattered around the outside of the camp are several wyvern nests, some of which are occupied. While you don't think you'd be able to kill all of them, if you were to anger and scare them, they'd go into a fury that would make the Imperials unable to mount or control them. While they will still be dangerous, they'll be far easier for the Agrithian archers to deal with when acting in a feral frenzy, and they might even get into fights with Imperials who get in their way.
-[X] Lacking natural weapons and innate magic, humans are forced to use tools to fight. Since you don't want these humans to be able to hurt anyone, removing their tools would be a good idea, and like the food and other supplies it shouldn't be that hard.
-[X] If there's one thing you've learned from the march up north, it's that large groups of humans can't get very far without supplies. Which means that the Imperials have to have a bunch of them stored somewhere. If you were to find and destroy that, you'd be able to really make life difficult for them even after you and the Kingdom soldiers are forced to leave. It should be relatively safe to do.
-[X] Link up with Artemis after this and either back her up or withdraw, depending on how the encounter is going.
Get their Wyverns panicking to sow confusion and limit their air support, attack their armory, and attack their supplies, then we either fuck off or re-assess. Win or lose, this guarantees their ability to continue pressing this invasion drops to fucking zero.
...Do we know for sure that the super-knight guy that I forget the name of is even here? Wasn't there another Imperial army that was going to link up with the one we're currently attacking if we took too long or something? Been a while since the updates in question, I don't remember. Do we have intel on where the Imperial champion or whatever is exactly or do we still only have the vague "he's coming"?
This is where our meta-knowledge and our in-character knowledge is going to come into conflict.
We pop the Dragon Button and we will be jumped by a fucking high level, Sealed Dragonslayer who nobody knew was supposed to be here (Because he wasn't supposed to be here), but if we don't do it, this'll get a lot nastier. Though not as bad as it could be due to us having near total surprise on them despite the best efforts of the Dice Gods.
That dragonslayer won't disappear if unused though, it will always be a threat-in-being. And I think right now might be the most advantageous position to pop it, rather than, say, when the enemy manages to ambush us at some point down the road.
With all our stacked advantages and the fact that disengaging costs us targets of opportunity rather than an entire important battle, this may be the best time to learn about dragon slaying opponents, if not outright deal with them.
@SoaringHawk218 , a question comes to mind. Does Ryza think she'd need to get close to scare the Wyverns? Or does she think she could Bolt them into the desired panic?
She figures that she could scare them, but it'd be a lot harder to properly do it. Her basic plan is to take out their riders and then zap them a few times to piss them off without anyone around to calm them down from a rampage.
Or, if she went Dragon, just bully them with the fact that she's bigger than they are, stronger, and has Trinity of Magic advantage.
...Do we know for sure that the super-knight guy that I forget the name of is even here? Wasn't there another Imperial army that was going to link up with the one we're currently attacking if we took too long or something? Been a while since the updates in question, I don't remember. Do we have intel on where the Imperial champion or whatever is exactly or do we still only have the vague "he's coming"?
In character, Ryza and Company have no idea Salvador has left Wyrmrise with the Fell Slayer, let alone that he's heading north. One of the benefits of the Blades is that, since they're Wyvern riders 99.9% of the time, by the time people know they're coming they've usually already arrived.
Out of character, I don't know if he's going to show up, it'll depend on dice.
Edited my Plan in, I think it's pretty good. Our objective isn't to wipe them out, it's to stop the invasion from happening. You can't move supplies very fast, so the only one of these that's time sensitive is the Wyverns, which is why we scare them first.
More importantly, it's making a statement. "We had total surprise, and we could have used it to murder you all. Instead, we used it to take away your ability to prosecute an Unjust War." That matters.
I do like the idea of targeting supplies. It doesn't hurt the Imperials as much tactically, but strategically it will continuously ruin them for months.
[X] Plan: Can't Invade us with no supplies and no weapons, can you?
I support this plan on strategic grounds and its intended PR purposes. This could be a long war, better to not gain a reputation as a bloodthirsty dragon out of the state-approved history books.
