Beyond the Wall

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 11, 2012, 02:05 PM

Only the watch are visitors to the land beyond-the-wall, but many a creature are out there... somewhere. Here any rangings sent out by the Watch will take place, feel free to RP a ranger - no backstory is needed.

Of course if by some chance a force of Wildlings appear, or the others are sighted, then a battle would surely follow?

**Dark Storm** · July 15, 2012, 09:34 PM

One morning, when the fog was thick on the ground before the wall seven figures emerged from within the mist, making their way across the ground before the wall...

The figures stopped, suddenly, out of arrow-shot of the wall, the leader of the group, a young man, held up his fist and the warriors sheathed their weapons. The young man, then held the banner he had in his left hand high above his head, so that the material snapped in the wind, before bringing it down into the earth. He removed his hand from the pole and let the flag sway there in the breeze before the wall...

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 16, 2012, 05:29 PM

What the...

First Ranger Woodfoot silently called his party of 15 Rangers to a halt as he saw the group of Wildlings standing by the Wall waving a flag in the air. They all obeyed straight away, and so they should - around him were the best Rangers that the Wall had to offer. They were on their way back from a patrol which they'd had been on for two weeks, scouting the nearby forests for any sings of the Wildlings or something more sinister. What this group were doing so close to the Wall was beyond him, and he was getting questioning glances from the rest of the men. Indicating they should spread out and surround them, his men quietly crept off into their known positions. Woodfoot knew that if they sprung up on the Wildlings now there would be conflict, and that was the last thing his men needed. Hopefully someone on the Wall will see them...

So they waited.

And waited, the Wildlings still waving their flag about, of which he had caught a glimce of it in the moonlight, but still couldn't quite make out. Finally two men were making their way a long on a night-time patrol. One pointed at the group, and when the other man had seen them he ran off, hopefully to get the other. Meanwhile the first man went over to the nearest horn and blew it, indicating that Wildlings had been sighted...

OOC: Wait for it... ;-) The Lord Commander still needs to find out.

* * * *

Castle Black

It all happens at once...

The Lord Commander heard the horn straight away, and was proud that the men quickly got themselves together. He excused himself from the carriage drivers and ordered a nearby Steward to deal with them. Walking calmly towards the lift that would take him to the top of the Wall the Lord Commander wonder what the hell would be going on; he was sure a patrol was meant to be arriving back around this evening...

* * * *

First Ranger Woodfoot saw the Wall become a flurry of activity after the horn was blown. before he knew it over a hundred men were lined up on the Wall, bows drawn. If it would come to a battle, they'd play a pivotal role.

* * * *

Castle Black

And here we go...

When the Lord Commander reached the top of the Wall, which was glistening in the moonlight, he saw not fear, but anticipation in the eyes of the men around him. Controlling his own heart beat he made his way to the front of Wall and shouted down to the group of Wildlings, "What brings you here Wildlings, state your business and be gone - or we will fire!"

OOC: Done, and over to you... :-D

**Dark Storm** · July 16, 2012, 05:34 PM

Their leader, a young man, roughly the age of eighteen, stepped forward from the group, he raised his head to the wall and called out,

"I am Halldor, son of Loki, Thegn of the Fang."

His voice was calm, and he spoke without pause or hesitation,

"I am of the Clan Ashwinder, to the far North and I bring tidings from the father of my father, Haldor, son of Ari. The message I hold today is one of warning. These lands, they are our lands, and to trespass upon them is folly."

He stepped back to the banner and reached into a bulky bag that hung at his side, withdrawing an object, he held it up for all to see, then slammed it down upon the spike at top of the flag...

"This man, we found in our lands, he is of your watch, a deserter, we found him in our lands, in a farmstead to be exact, that of the brother of my fathers father, Bjorn, son of Ari. We found the males slaughtered and the females..."

The man's voice trailed off, and his face visibly whitened as he recalled the sight that had awaited him at that farm, a change in his demeanour that was noticeable to all who surveyed the group,

"Anyway,"

He began once more

"I would ask for an audience with the Commander of the Guard."

He finished, looking up to the Wall once more waiting for the response...

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 17, 2012, 04:53 PM

Castle Black

This can't be good...

"You're speaking with him," called out the Lord Commander from atop the Wall in his booming voice. "We thank-you for saving us a job by killing that deserter for us, although there was no need for the death of the women and children." He continues, hoping to make some sense from the turn of events. "Now tell me, Wildling, why I shouldn't just open fire on you and your men now for coming this close to the Wall. You have no business here."

OOC: Reply, the crow is coming. ;-)

**Dark Storm** · July 17, 2012, 05:03 PM

"The death of the women and Children?"

The man looked slightly confused,

"They came at the hands of the deserter. We do not kill innocents, we are an old people, not savages."

He gestured to the men behind him,

"Each one of these is of my kin, that of the Clan Ashwinder, I myself am the grandson of Hakon Arison, High-King of the Frostfangs, were we to die, unrelenting war would fall upon your Kingdoms, a war that would result in a great many deaths for both our people's. Would you take that chance?"

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 17, 2012, 05:22 PM

Well this has taken a turn...

"My apologies, Wildling, we are so used to such tales by now we assume it to be the norm." He replied, trying to cover his mistakes. "And about this war, why would it-

* * * *

I wonder what this is about...

Alfred cursed loudly as he saw the crow fly up from the trees, drawing the attention of one of the Wildlings. There eyes met, and he saw them widen in surprise. Quicker then lighting Alfred drew back his bow and fired, but it was too late... the man had already cried out as the arrow drove into him...

**Dark Storm** · July 17, 2012, 05:37 PM

"Range..."

Halldor heard the buzz a badly fletched arrow whistling through the air at the same time he processed the words coming from the mouth of his Brother-By-Law, Asgrim. He turned instinctively, and watched an arrow plunge into the mans neck, cutting off his last sentence.

He cursed under his breath, as the man collapsed to his knees, blood pooling round him. As if by one, the six remaining wildlings drew their weapons. Firing off a volley of arrows into the undergrowth, towards the general direction of the assailant.

As soon as the arrows had left their bows, the men unsheathed their swords and, with Halldor at the front, they charged the party of enemies, feet pounding across the rough terrain...

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 17, 2012, 05:51 PM

The 14 other Rangers quickly reacted to the change in events, but none managed to loose of any more arrows. Drawing their blades they broke their circular formation and charged towards the party of Wildlings.

Alfred cursed again as he saw 3 of his men taken down by the enemies blades. These are trained warriors he thought, his heart pounding with anticipation, his blood pumping. Ducking an incoming blow and swinging his blade around...

OOC: Let me kill this guy? :-D

* * * *

"What the hell is happening down there!" Bellowed the Lord Commander, "I want to know now." However deep down he knew what had happened... the patrol had returned.

OOC: Night mate, continue this tomorrow evening?

**Dark Storm** · July 18, 2012, 12:18 PM

The large Wildling, Eyjolf, disappeared under a barrage of blows from one of the rangers, with a muffled cry he collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his stomach where a large gash had cut through his bronze armour...

"Hold them back!"

Shouted Halldor, over the din of battle, his sword flashed through the air, drawing blood here and there. Soon however the Wildlings were surrounded by the larger enemy force, fighting for their lives...

Halldor, in the midst of battle, came face to face with the ranger commander, he grimaced, and twirled his sword in anticipation, waiting for the enemy to make the first move...

ooc- Halldor and the current leader of the rangers will fight for a bit, while the rest of my guys kill and are killed, leaving five rangers and the commander still fighting, the commander will badly injure Halldor, but Halldor will kill the leader of this patrol and fall unconscious from his wounds, by which time another group of rangers should arrive to stop the fighting, what do you think?

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 18, 2012, 05:40 PM

Alfred's eyes hardened as he locked onto the Wildling Chieftain. His surroungins blurred as he took a deep breath, steadying his pounding heart. At one with the blade... he reminded himself, blocking everything else out of his mind. Focusing on this one moment. This one time. He was ready.

His surroundings slowed, he saw another two Rangers go down in that time, but also a Wildling, taken down by two of his men. He loosed his grip on his blade before launching into the attack. He remained silent as he swung right, with a simple stroke, trying to estimate his opponent.

The blade...

OOC: Please continue. :-)

**Dark Storm** · July 18, 2012, 05:48 PM

The blade sliced through thin air as Halldor nimbly jumped back. Around him he heard the cries of dying men and the clang of blade on blade, he cursed to himself, this is not what he had wanted at all.

Whilst his other senses were pre-occupied with the battle, his eyes remained firmly focused upon those of the man who stood before him, judging his movements, predicting his attacks...

Another Wildling fell, taking with him a couple of rangers, men decapitated by the long reach of his mighty war axe, the Wildling himself dead by a dagger, plunged in at close quarters.

Halldor heard these events of the battle, yet did not let himself get distracted by him, twirling his sword with expertise, he quickly flicked it towards the enemies over-extended arm...

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 18, 2012, 06:04 PM

Castle Black

"I don't know s-sir," cam the muffled reply.

"Well bloody well find out, get some men down there now!" he order, walking towards the lift.

"Sir, where are you going?"

"To find out what the hell is going on myself," the Lord Commander replied gesturing for nine Rangers to follow him. They did, and soon they began their descent, watching another twenty men run down the icy stairs.

Can't this thing go any quicker...

* * * *

Seven of us, three of them Alfred thought as he withdrew his hand like a snake, however before he could react he felt the blade smash into his side, causing him to shout out in pain. As he double over he saw another two Rangers go down, and one more Wildling. He muttered a curse before swinging his balde up blindly, hoping to catch the Wilding off-guard with a quick strike...

**Dark Storm** · July 18, 2012, 06:34 PM

Halldor, his eyes still heavily focused on the man, withdrew his sword once more, sizing up his opponent, waiting for him to make a mistake. He drew his foot back, into a more offensive stance, and lashed out with his sword once more, meeting the cold steel of the first rangers blade.

Suddenly the young Wildling felt a sharp pain in his leg and heard a loud crack, he cried out in pain and turned slightly to see the last of his allies slumped across the ground, knife in his back and partially lying on Halldors now broken leg. He cursed, having lost his concentration and advantage, he lashed out at the Ranger in anger, his sword flashing against the mans stomach...

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 19, 2012, 04:06 PM

Alfred's heart missed a beat as he saw the blade coming towards, he knew he wasn't going to be able to react. However he felt himself thrown to to the ground before the blade, followed by a scream of pain. Looking up off the ground he saw that another Ranger had dived in the way, taking the blade for him. Rushing up he tackled the Wildling to the ground in a fit of rage, knocking the blade out of his hand, sending it miles...

OOC: A bit of a fist fight on the floor perhaps?

* * * *

Castle Black

They reached the ground with a resounding thud, jumping out of the lift and running towards the gate, the shouts of men filling the court-yard. A few men began widening the gate, but by the time it was open the men running down the stairs had reached them. Together they ran out, going beyond-the-wall...

**Dark Storm** · July 19, 2012, 04:10 PM

Halldor cried in pain as the ranger tackling him bent his already broken leg back, he pulled himself back and smashed his fist into the face of the Ranger, feeling his nose pop beneath his hand, warm liquid ran down his hand. He rolled backward and tried to stand, but collapsed back to his knees...

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · July 19, 2012, 04:38 PM

Alfred rolled around on the ground in agony, his nose gushing out blood. He too tired to stand, but his legs weren't responding. He watched as one of the remaining Rangers rushed over, but before the Ranger could do anything a shout stopped him in his tracks...

* * * *

"Fire!" Roared the Lord Commander, pointing over at the Wildling.

* * * *

Alfred watched as he saw an arrow fly through the air, and watched in awe as it plunged into the Wildling's knee. He saw him crumple to the ground, and men running towards them, before it all went black.

OOC: Fear not he is still alive. I thought this was a good place to end it as I am off early Saturday. This way when I get back both of us can just 'wake up' and fill in the gaps? How does that sound? :-)