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[Eldrie Lennon]

It was another hot day in the Mirkwood mountains, and the sun was not encumbered by clouds to dampen its heat. Instead it blazed down like the lidless eye to wear upon the hundred companions who hid in the rocky foothills leading to the highest peak. Their lookouts had spotted the forms that they had been waiting for, Orcs.

A force of three hundred orcs had been sent after the mercenaries, led of course by Eldrie Lennon. Why did they search for them, was the question that had been asked by some of the company, though Eldrie knew, and most of his men did as well. It was because they had broken a contract in Hobbiton, by sparing a family of hobbits, as well as one of the Elven Kings. As punishment for going back on their word to kill the innocent hobbits, a force of orcs had been sent to kill the mercenaries.

Eldrie Lennon stood upon a chunk of rock that stood about twenty five feet tall, and looked out over the approaching orcs. Three hundred was a great number, but his men had lived in the hills for a long time, and would not be caught unsurprised, orcs, like everything else about the former Dark Lord, were overconfident and stupid. Watching as the orcs approached in a single mass, Eldrie motioned for the squads to break as they had been taught, twenty five cavalry broke to dissapear around one of the bends, to await the horn blow to send them into the flanks of the enemy. Another twenty five with longbows, made of elven design took the high ground on many of the huge boulders, that could only be reached by the paths behind them. Those paths, of which there were two, were guarded by the remaining fifty, twenty five to each path, Eldrie in the middle to help support the side that needed it most.

His men, the footmen that is, had elected not to go with dual swords, but rather with longsword and sheild, knowing that it would be more effective. Forming a single line, with their sheilds locked together, they would wait to see if the orcs had archers, if they did, they would form a turtle with the back ranks placing their sheilds on top. When the orcs closed range to swords, the men would hold the line, forming a triangle, the sheilds locked and acting as hinges on the corners, able to wheel and pivot, and offer a death to the orcs. A well oiled machine, were the soldiers of the Mesodic Order.

Watching as his men wheeled into formation, Eldrie watched the archers draw back, and wait, the orcs coming closer, and closer, their drums battering away, then all was silent. The orcs roaring and banging on their sheilds, and then, they charged around the rocks and boulders, some tripping and falling, as they surged forward to reach the rear paths to the men. When they were at two hundred yards, the archers let loose, and orcs tumbled....

"Swordsman, make ready! Archers keep pouring it on, until they circle and hit the swords, and then the twenty I ordered, draw your swords, the other five, pick your targets well, and fire when clear!" Barked Eldrie as he drew his dual swords, not liking a sheild when fighting by himself, and waiting for the orcs, he had his horn ready to signal the infantry when he felt it ready.

I wonder if Gondor will hear of this battle in time, or if, at some point, a child will find our remains and tell a tale of what happened here.... he thought to himself as he heard the sounds of orcs closing...

This post has been edited by Eldrie Lennon on Nov 26 2005, 02:34 AM

[Khamuli]

|Oh geez, this is going to totally mutilate any self-respect I have as an RPer. Thanks Eldrie.|

Khamuli rode beside Cield. It was a beautiful day, and she felt at peace. They had not had to face any Orcs for a while, and she was fine with that. She was content just to ride alongside her friend and just talk. He was a very interesting person, even though he had tendencies to act strangely, but he was a man. It was only to be expected.

But then, she felt a strange feeling. She was no elf, but she was a warrior. It was one of those strange instincts where you know something bad is going to happen. She shuddered and looked up at Cield. She was about to voice her concerns when they heard the sounds of battle.

Khamuli dismounted smoothly and quietly crept forward. She didn't want to come upon two Orc groups squabbling and then get noticed at the most inopportune time. She drew her curved blade and looked back at Cield, just to make sure he was there. He was a formidable warrior, no matter how he acted when they were alone and on the road.

She peeked through the foliage and was almost repulsed by the sight. It was the mercenaries she had met when she was an Easterling in the War of the Ring. She couldn't mistake those uniforms and styles of fighting for anything. And they were slaughtering the Orcs.

The horrible stench of dying Orcs and Orc blood met Khamuli's nose and she nearly threw up. It had been a while since she had killed an Orc and after a while, one forgets how horrible it is. She made a face, and patiently waited until the mercenaries were done. It didn't take long. They were some of the best fighters, on either side.

When they were finally done killing/slaughtering/doing much damage in general, Khamuli emerged from the cover of the forests, hoping they wouldn't shoot her on the spot. That could be bad.

"Greetings friends." She said with a nod of her head.

[Cield]

((I should make a one liner. After all, that's how small I'd feel in comparison to you two's magnificent posts.))

Cield followed after Khamuli, letting her lead out towards whatever it was that was posing a threat for them up ahead. Keeping a hand about his weapon, prepared to draw it at any moment, if it seemed like it was a situation where they would be needed. It seemed that throughout the life of a ranger, however, weapons of any sort were needed plenty. Usually because if you were caught off guard without some sort of blade, you'd needed to resort to using anything you could find. This was usually difficult to come by, especially if you were stuck out in a plains, fighting an enemy that held a rather large sword or anything of the sort.

As the two got closer, he began to hear the familiar noise of a battle and he hurried closer to where it was, peering out from his position and watched as what seemed like hundreds of orcs--most likely was, too--came after a crew of mercenaries. He had to blink, wondering what was so important for the destruction of those men and he waited in silence as the orcs were battled off at a rather quick pace. he looked towards Khamuli, waiting to see if she was ready to leave towards where the men were finishing gathering themselves back amongst each other.

"What importance are you of?" he questioned towards the men, drawing out his weapon so that he would have a source of protection just in case the need arrived. "I don't see," he continued, "how a band of orcs--hundreds in numbers--would find you so interesting."

Clearing his throat, he looked towards Khamuli once more, admiring her calmness before continuing with his slight 'speech', as one may call it had they not heard much talking in their lives.

"I ask of you, as a Ranger from Gondor, what it is that you have found yourselves in and now have just managed to scrape their way out of."

[Eldrie Lennon]

It was true, the idiotic combat formations of the orcs, added up to a wholesale slaughter when set up against the vetran mercenaries. Looking over the field as his men secured the corpses, Eldrie heard two voices drift over the sounds of the dead and dying, sounds that he was all to familiar with. He had lost ten men, a number that was worth far more then the orcs dead on the feild. Looking at the ranger, and the easterling, his men surrounded the two,

"An easterling and a ranger, how interesting....what importance? None of your business perhaps? came the querie from Eldrie as he watched the two for signs of aggression. He did not really wish to kill the two, and had no reason to, but would not hesitate if the situation warranted such an action.

Scanning the battlefield before him, Eldrie shook his head at the carnage, wondering what the outcome of the war might have been if he had been the general rather then some bullheaded orc. They might be strong, and breed like rabbit, but tactians they were not. His men continued to police the bodies while several of them kept an eye of the three talking men. The day was still early, and though Eldrie highly doubted that anymore orcs would come, he did wonder what brought these two out to find him so early in the day. Sounds of battle could have drawn them, but he wanted to make sure...perhaps they would want to be part of his company, though he doubted the ranger of Gondor would appreciate their positions as mercenaries.

"As a ranger of Gondor you say? Should that mean something to me? Am I supposed to give you a medal for your title? Why do you question our business, orcs came, we killed thats all you need to know"

This post has been edited by Eldrie Lennon on Nov 27 2005, 04:46 AM

[Khamuli]

Khamuli gripped her sword. She didn't trust this mercenary. It was one of those woman's instincts. She looked at his very formidable force and she was almost frightened. They could slaughter them easily, but would they, without need? From her experience with mercenaries, probably not. They were bought fighters, but they were better than Orcs. That was always good.

She raised an eyebrow at the fact that he had been ordered to kill Legolas. Was he stupid? Even she knew Legolas was one of the best warriors Middle Earth had ever seen. Well, yeah, he wasn't as intelligent as one could be. He was a male. She shook her head. What would men do without women? Really.

"We are travelers... dedicated to the betterment of Middle Earth, if you follow me. We would simply like to know what drives you to kill so well." She answered smoothly.

|*dies at horrible post*|

This post has been edited by Khamuli on Nov 28 2005, 03:06 AM

[Eldrie Lennon]

Eldrie kind of shrugged and then he answered,

"We broke a contract, and were hunted by the orcs in turn, thats all. Now we go forth to destroy an orc town. Another contract, you are more then welcome to ride with us"

Turning, he motioned for his men to saddle up, some of the now riderless horses were loaded with the few decent weapons and armors that the orcs had possesed. Turning in his saddle, Eldrie waited for a response from the two travellers.

OOC: Sorry for the rushed post.

[Khamuli]

Khamuli watched the mercenary distrustfully. She wasn't quite sure about this. He could be lying, and just wanted to kill them. But of course, he could be telling the truth. You just never knew with men like him. She had never trusted mercenaries. As long as you gave them the right price, they'd do your bidding. She laid her hand on her saber hilt and then faced Cield, turning her head to look at the mercenary.

"Give us a moment." She said before lowering her voice to speak to Cield. "What do you think, Cield? I would like to go kill some Orc, but I don't have a good feeling. Its one of those gut instincts." She scanned the large group of mercenaries. "But I could be wrong." She added softly, looking back up at the Ranger's face.

|Sorry for the shoddy post.|