Big day for Ryoko Stormsong. Despite the general ignorance that comes with being someone who literally lives in a utility closet, even she heard of the unrest in Coerthas. I'd been rather enjoying my little plot about searching for the missing sword, but obviously this more or less required Ryoko to return home.Â
Getting there was simple enough. Sell-swords were headed North by the wagon-load, so getting back to Coerthas was much easier than leaving it in the first place. Once at Camp Dragonhead, she volunteered her services. The Fortemps knights were reluctant to place her and her sister into battle, knowing full well that the Stormsong daughters had no real combat-relevant skills, but they were both old enough to die for their country, and anyone can hold a spear and shield. So they were soon placed among a spear levy, comprised of one hundred and sixty Coerthan peasants and being led by a handful of professional soldiers.Â
Ryoko's unit never did make it to that bridge. They were intercepted by a patrol of wyverns en route. The inexperienced levymen were wholly unprepared for an ambush, and their numbers rapidly thinned. The battle heavily favored the Dravanian forces. When the Fortemps knights fell, the remaining peasants lost their nerve and the line collapsed. A lucky few broke for the forest, with Ryoko and Mishka among them.Â
No news of Barrett Stormsong yet. Doubtless he entered the fray on that bridge, but it is yet unknown if he now walks in Valhalla. Either way, Ryoko will most certainly feel great shame for fleeing the battle for some time, but that hasn't even reached her mind yet. Before that battle, she'd never witnessed death. Today, she watched over ten dozen men all brutally slain within a matter of minutes. She's currently crying herself to sleep in a snowbank, afraid to even consider leaving the woods, not knowing of Ishgard's victory. Last she saw, the world was burning down around her.Â
It was not a fun day.
Getting there was simple enough. Sell-swords were headed North by the wagon-load, so getting back to Coerthas was much easier than leaving it in the first place. Once at Camp Dragonhead, she volunteered her services. The Fortemps knights were reluctant to place her and her sister into battle, knowing full well that the Stormsong daughters had no real combat-relevant skills, but they were both old enough to die for their country, and anyone can hold a spear and shield. So they were soon placed among a spear levy, comprised of one hundred and sixty Coerthan peasants and being led by a handful of professional soldiers.Â
Ryoko's unit never did make it to that bridge. They were intercepted by a patrol of wyverns en route. The inexperienced levymen were wholly unprepared for an ambush, and their numbers rapidly thinned. The battle heavily favored the Dravanian forces. When the Fortemps knights fell, the remaining peasants lost their nerve and the line collapsed. A lucky few broke for the forest, with Ryoko and Mishka among them.Â
No news of Barrett Stormsong yet. Doubtless he entered the fray on that bridge, but it is yet unknown if he now walks in Valhalla. Either way, Ryoko will most certainly feel great shame for fleeing the battle for some time, but that hasn't even reached her mind yet. Before that battle, she'd never witnessed death. Today, she watched over ten dozen men all brutally slain within a matter of minutes. She's currently crying herself to sleep in a snowbank, afraid to even consider leaving the woods, not knowing of Ishgard's victory. Last she saw, the world was burning down around her.Â
It was not a fun day.
