under the flag enemies

with ganggyn’s declaration of war on gleerium, the country’s SOLDIERS are on high alert. these members of gleerium’s army fight with IRON LANCES. these enemies (or allies, depending on whose side you’re on) are fairly well-rounded, with physical strength and precise attacks. what their armor fails to protect them from is magic, which could be considered their primary weakness. gleerium has a vast amount of soldiers in their army, and they are poised to make a hearty defense in GLEERIUM, but many of their soldiers lack experience. still, it is recommended fighters LEVEL THREE AND ABOVE take them and their 26 HP on.

ganggyn’s first line of offense, their PEGASUS KNIGHTS, have launched a full scale attack in GLEERIUM. these warriors fight on the back of pegasi, typically with IRON LANCES, but sometimes with IRON SWORDS. they are quick and a nuisance to try to put down, given their ability to flee to the skies. they, unlike soldiers, boast a natural resistance to magic, given they ride atop magical creatures themselves. if you manage to pin them down, they are quite physically fragile, and can’t withstand too many attacks. this is especially true when it comes to archers; a good shot with a bow can take a pegasus knight down with ease. ganggyn’s pegasus knights are well trained, however, and it is recommended characters LEVEL SIX AND ABOVE take them and their 25 HP on.

monsters vaguely resembling reanimated corpses called REVENANTS have been spotted IN NOYILLAI. as if appearing for backup to the mogalls, they come in hordes later in the battle, enclosing on both lotus hall and the areas around it during the final day of the lotus festival. this traveling in packs is partially to make up for their weakness. they move slowly, generally giving fighters paying attention time to run or avoid their attacks. they are durable, however, and hard to down, so it’s important not to get too confident. even the weak have power in numbers, after all. they fight with DANGEROUS CLAWS, and despite their apparent individual weakness, it’s recommended characters LEVEL THREE OR ABOVE take them and their 30 HP on.

as if matters couldn’t get worse, sentient skeletons called BONEWALKERS have joined the fray IN NOYILLAI. they, too, appear later in the battle in large groups, both in areas all over noyillai and lotus hall itself. like revenants, this traveling in packs is partially to make up for their weakness. unlike their corpse-resembling counterparts, however, they are far faster, able to dodge at nearly the speed of a regular human where many other monsters are quite sluggish. they are physically weak, however, and despite their speed, are seemingly unskilled with their IRON SWORDS, and have a tendency to have inaccurate, weak attacks. while not the strongest enemy fights have probably faced, just like revenants, their true strength comes in the numbers the usually travel in. it’s recommended characters LEVEL THREE OR ABOVE take them and their 21 HP on. 

hideous, frightening eye monsters called MOGALLS have been spotted IN NOYILLAI. they have rudely interrupted the final day of the lotus festival, crashing through the windows, causing all sorts of damage and destruction in lotus hall. it’s not just lotus hall that is under threat, however; mogalls have sprung up all across noyillai, emerging from the ground and very depths of the underworld itself. they are not just nuisances; they are dangerous. they use DARK MAGIC to fight, and are quick and capable of flight, ensuring even high altitudes are unsafe. they have high resistance, but little defense, making them weak to physical attacks. they are less likely to attack fellow dark magic users, and are especially weak to light magic damage. these mogalls have 23 HP, and it is recommended only characters LEVEL THREE OR ABOVE take them on.

finnuf​:

feng wu hates violence. this is something finn remembers about her. she is one of the most peaceable people he’s ever met, so he’ll have to apologize to her for all of this later, even though it was unavoidable: all of the blood and death.

well, maybe he could’ve been more diplomatic instead of attacking right away, but it’s too late for that now, as his sword strikes true and the bandit falls to the ground for good. the bandit’s companion, however, isn’t done yet, and finn realizes this too late. before he knows it, and even as he rushes forward to try to prevent the attack, he fails, and feng wu takes the hit. “shit!” he exclaims, and there’s no time to ask her if she’s okay. “yeah, get out of here, i’ll find you after!” after the bandit is dead.

luckily, this time, finn can make himself enough of an obstacle that the bandit can’t reach her. he’s thankful feng wu is well enough to escape, and hopefully she has healing items on her or can hold out for finn to bring her some of his own.

the bandit, a dumbass, practically announces his own attack, but somehow, it’s stronger and faster than finn anticipates. he manages to dodge some of it, but not enough; this time, the bandit’s axe grazes his side.

this is nothing new. finn knows pain, and finn knows fighting; it’s his life now, so he tries to shake off the new injury. he’s fine. he’s fine. he can barely feel it. still, he holds his sword in a defensive position as he catches his breath, just in case the bandit tries to attack again, but he’s even worse off than finn is, so he doubts it.

“you should’ve picked a different career path,” finn comments, deciding to take a page out of the bandit’s book, and swinging his sword for what he hopes is the last time today.

with both FINNIAN and the BANDIT injured, the BANDIT with 5 HP and FINNIAN with 14 HP, and FENG WU having run to safety, the fight appears to be nearing its conclusion. both of the men are still for a moment, recovering, when FINNIAN strikes. he ATTACKS SUCCESSFULLY, doing 10 DAMAGE and killing the BANDIT.

as such, FINNIAN and FENG WU have defeated ALL ENEMIES, making them the WINNERS of this OFFICIAL BATTLE. 

azura’s attack hits, but she already knew before her sword made contact with the bandit that it wouldn’t be enough to lethally wound him. that’s always been one of her flaws — she might be accurate enough to land hits, and fast enough to hit multiple times, but her strength has always left something to be desired. she has spent years training her strength, and would now say she’s fairly decently strong, if not even stronger than the average person, but… that doesn’t always help her much in battle, as she so rarely ever faces an “average” person. 

luckily, her attack hit strongly enough to make the bandit stumble, giving her an opening to strike again, though she’s fairly sure not even this strike was lethal. the bandit looks severely wounded, though — he can’t have much fight left in him. 

as she stands there considering the situation, trying to gauge how much strength the bandit has left, he catches her off guard as he charges towards her. while she’s much faster than him, she didn’t react fast enough to dodge him, and his axe slices into her side. 

shit. she’s bleeding, and she doesn’t think she has enough strength in her to take another hit. though she might be quick enough to dodge him, she thinks, as she forces herself to stay alert despite the pain. 

if she valued her own life more, she would have made a run for it already, but azura is nothing if not dedicated to the things she starts. and there is no way she’s gonna let this bandit off easy. so she bites her lip through the pain, and raises her sword again as she charges towards the bandit, this time aiming to fully end him.

with the BANDIT at 4 HP and AZURA at 9 HP, both parties are quite wounded. AZURA, however, makes the first move. her attack HITS, doing 8 DAMAGE and bringing the bandit down to 0 HP. he staggers on his feet for a few moments before he falls over, no life left in his body.

as such, AZURA has defeated ALL ENEMIES, making her the WINNER of this OFFICIAL BATTLE. 

ufwu​:

it’s the shock of the entire situation that has her frozen in place, from the sudden appearance of finnian, to the bandits that had chased her down to where they’re at now, and now the bloody scene taking place in front of her. it was all the last thing she had even expected when leaving the house earlier, when she had told her personal knight that she would be fine on her own.

this wasn’t what was supposed to even happen. feng wu was only supposed to come and buy some ingredients for supper then head back home soon after, though it seemed as if fate had other plans for her and she couldn’t help but wonder if she should have just stayed home.

the guilt building up inside of her as she watches the fight in front of her take place only has her fidgeting in place, frantically trying to figure out some sort of solution to resolve this whole matter before things get too out of hand. however, the moment she even comes to some sort of conclusion, her eyes widen even more the moment that she sees finnian being attacked, watching as the male is injured and a loud gasp escapes from her at the sight.

feng wu watches as the bandit is eventually killed, quickly covering her eyes with her now trembling hands. it’s true that she had seen situations such as this in the past, however, she wasn’t one who really ‘enjoyed’ seeing anyone hurt, bandit or not. maybe that’s why she sometimes found herself in such situations, the reasoning behind why her father had eventually come to the conclusion to hire a personal knight to keep her safe, seeing as she refused to even pick up a weapon.

it’s because she’s so lost in her own thoughts that she doesn’t fully realize the situation playing out in front of her, or more so has forgotten briefly about the first bandit that finnian had previously injured.

only when she hears the male’s voice does she quickly look in the bandits direction, though she’s not nearly quick enough to dodge his attack and soon feels the blade from the iron axe making contact with her side, screaming out in pain as she stumbles back and holds onto the freshly made wound.

there really was nothing that she could do here, especially now that she had just gained her own injury, and despite wanting to do her best to help finnian in some way, she realizes that she’s only in the way. before she can even think of anything else to do, she decides that the best thing for her to do in this situation is to get out of there before it’s too late. seeing how skilled finnian was with his sword, feng wu can only hope that he’ll be alright. that he’ll manage to survive and hopefully come find her afterwards so she can help with his wounds, and with that thought in mind she begins to run, or rather stumble towards the opening she had previously come through.

‘please stay alive, finnian!’ she thinks to herself as she rushes out to find a safer place to hide.

even with FENG WU’s new injury, the remaining BANDIT’s injury is worse, making him slower. she flees, and he is unable to follow her quickly enough, especially with the threat of FINNIAN still standing in the way, sure to make his pursuit more difficult. 

the BANDIT, still with a mere 5 HP remaining, breathes heavily, as if every movement is a great effort. he turns his attention to FINNIAN once again, if only because it seems he has no choice.

“if i can’t take you down, i’m gonna make your life real hard,” he declares, with a remarkably strong swing of his axe despite the severity of his injury. the attack LANDS for 5 DAMAGE, bringing FINNIAN down to 14 HP.

ufwu​:

feng wu knows what these bandits are capable of doing, or at least she knows what she’s heard of what they’re able to do to another if they don’t comply, and she isn’t sure how she’s going to even get herself out of this little predicament that she’s found herself in. she couldn’t fight, couldn’t run due to the tight grip around her wrist, and it didn’t seem like anyone would even bother trying to stop and help.

there was a fear growing inside of her as she runs through all of the thoughts rushing through her head in that moment, nervously biting down on her bottom lip as she tries her best to think of some sort of solution.

though, it’s as if luck were really on her side the moment that she notices something, or rather someone, approaching the three of them rather quickly. her eyes widen for a few reasons in that split moment as she watches exactly what happens in front of her.

for one, the fact that someone even bothered to step in and help, the second being that she had just witnessed such a scene. though the biggest reason behind her standing there frozen in place and unmoving, even almost forgetting to even breathe for a moment, was the familiar male. “finnian” she whispers, staring at the figure in front of her as if she had just seen a ghost.

there had been many rumors as to where he had disappeared to, most being that he was taking care of his father, though other rumors were more towards him being dead.

for a moment there she wonders if she is seeing his ghost, though the moment that she hears him speak she knows that he’s in fact real. that he’s actually there and, obviously, still very much alive.

no matter how much she just wants to jump up and down with excitement and ask him a million questions, the second that she sees the second bandit pulling out a weapon she knows that this won’t be the time or place for some ‘happy reunion’.

her eyes dart back and forth between the two male’s, wondering if there’s anything that she can do. if there’s something she can say to keep them from fighting. should she throw some of the vegetables that she had just purchased? maybe her own shoe? what if she just jumped on the bandits back and kept him from attacking her old friend?

given FENG WU has not drawn attention to herself, the scene continues on much as it did before: one BANDIT with 5 HP on the ground, trying to recover from his injury, and the other, 20 HP, still in a face off with FINNIAN.

the uninjured BANDIT doesn’t move for a while, as if waiting for his opening, until he finds it. he lunges forward in an attack, this time,  HITTING for 5 DAMAGE, bringing FINNIAN down to 19 HP.

azura enjoys going for the occasional walk on her days off, sometimes even warping elsewhere to check out different farming villages. there’s something about the produce they offer there, usually fresher and overall better quality than what she can find in bigger cities. and if there’s one thing she has learned is a great “secret” ingredient in her cooking, it’s fresh ingredients, bought directly from farming villages or towns such as the one she’s currently approaching. 

she’s been here before a few times, but today, something seems off. as she walks towards the city gates, she spots someone lurking around the road, weapon already drawn. she’s quick to note the axe, and assumes this is one of the bandits that have been attacking the area recently.

her first instinct is to hide, then wait to see what the bandit will do, but that plan falls apart as soon as he clearly sees her and comes towards her. shit. well, she likely has no choice but to fight, she thinks, as her hand instinctively rests on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw her weapon if necessary. as the bandit’s demeanor becomes more and more threatening, her grip of the hilt tightens, and her stance changes to an evasive one, ready to dodge any possible attacks. 

“i’m just here to check out the village markets,” she tells the bandit. she considers her options — she could completely back off, but… that would leave the bandit to keep roaming around the village, which would inevitably lead to him attacking innocents. no, she has to fight — there’s no other sensible choice. 

“i don’t want any trouble, but you already brought trouble along yourself, lurking around a defenseless village like this.” azura begins drawing her sword. “so i guess i have no choice but to get rid of you,” she declares as she draws the sword completely, and rushes towards the bandit, ready to attack.

the BANDIT braces himself for AZURA’S attack, but is unable to block it or dodge. her attack HITS for 8 DAMAGE, bringing the BANDIT’s HP down to 12.

he stumbles backwards, trying to gain his bearings after AZURA’s attack. in this period of time, AZURA is able to attack a SECOND TIME for another 8 DAMAGE. this brings the BANDIT’s HP down to 4. 

although severely wounded, the BANDIT is also very angry. he charges forward, axe raised, and HITS AZURA for 11 DAMAGE, bringing her down to 9 HP.

finnuf​:

finn doesn’t actually find himself in ganggyn that often, which is a shame, because he does think it’s a lovely country. well, it’s sort of a shame; in some ways, it’s a relief, because ganggyn aided etlia so much in their war against gleerium. if people recognized him here, would they be disappointed in him as well? him, the margrave that sucked up their resources only to lose the war anyway? he tries to tell himself most people in ganggyn don’t know. emperor yumi and the ministers are well known for hiding their dealings from the civilians, so this is what he tells himself to comfort himself.

his fiancée…former fiancée? is also from ganggyn. it would be a real nightmare if he ran into her out here, but he is on the other side of ganggyn from her, so it would be unlikely, and if it did happen, he would have to simply accept it as a fated encounter.

so despite his likely irrational fear, he accepted a job to deliver this apparently highly confidential and dangerous letter someone hired him for. truthfully, part of him was tempted to open it– just for a brief moment. of course, he wouldn’t actually, and he’s guarded it with his life thus far as promised. he doesn’t know why they wanted to hire him, a mercenary, to deliver it, but he figured they must have wanted some extra protection for it just in case anyone tried to intercept it. he hopes he isn’t involving himself in some kind of political scheme on accident, but if he is…oh well. he’s been through worse, hasn’t he?

he still has to deliver the letter. he’s tracing his way through town, sure to be on the lookout for any pickpockets, when he hears a commotion. perhaps he should focus on his job and continue on his way, but what if it’s something bad? he would surely wonder what was going on for a while if he kept walking, so he searches, and locates the problem at a dead end. two men that he assumes are criminals of some sort– bandits? –have captured a girl and are robbing her. to make matters worse, he recognizes that girl. it’s both extra reason to help and extra reason to leave at once. of course he can’t leave, though. he couldn’t leave no matter who it was, but this is feng wu, an old friend from lotus academy. she has never been anything but kind to him, and probably everyone she’s ever met.

he pauses for a moment, assessing the situation, trying to discern his first move. he draws his sword, and decides to take advantage of the fact that the bandits aren’t looking at him. he charges forward, stabbing his sword straight through the bandit farthest away from feng wu. he falls to the ground, and whether he’s dead or not, finn will worry about later.

now, he has the attention of the second bandit. “let her go or i’ll do the same to you,” he says, and the bandit obeys, but draws an axe.

so they’ll fight, then. finn can handle that.

there are two bandits: one, currently incapacitated and on the ground, with 5 HP remaining, and the other, 20 HP, poised to attack FINNIAN.

the bandit makes the first move and attacks FINNIAN with his iron axe. his attack MISSES. FINNIAN still has his maximum 24 HP.

currently, FENG WU is not the focus of either bandit, and still has 20 HP. it’s best she be careful if she doesn’t want to attract any attention...

OOC NOTE:

bandits have invaded your thread! this has initiated an official battle. the results of official battles are determined by the stats of all individuals involved. this may turn out well or...very poorly for your character, depending on your character’s actions, those stats, and the inherent randomness of the battle system. 

in this case, the bandits have taken their first turn. please follow this post order as the thread continues: FENG WU, ENEMIES, FINNIAN, ENEMIES, FENG WU, and so on. your characters’ actions will influence the actions of the enemies in this battle beyond just stat points, such as where characters are located on the current battlefield, if they happen to draw the enemy’s attention, etc. please do not write whether your character’s attack is successful or not, or if the bandits are successful or not, without prompting from the enemies blog. the battle system will decide that! note that it is never mandatory for your character to attack an enemy during their turn, and the enemies sometimes may not attack either. please continue to follow the posting order mentioned above, and write what is most natural for your character.

this official battle will continue until either the characters involved or the enemies involved all reach 0 HP. while characters will never die during official battles, reaching 0 HP is indicative of incapacitating injury, ensuring they can no longer fight. 

hello!

as under the flag gets up and running, there are a lot of things that may be trial and error to some extent while we figure out what works best. here’s one of those things!

please like this post if you would be okay with the enemies blog interacting with your character during the bandit enemy encounter. this means you may receive a submit, or even have bandits interrupt a thread where it makes sense if the muns of both muses involved like this post. this will (at least usually) initiate official battles, where your muse may be injured, perhaps even severely, based on their stats. of course, you’re free to continue writing threads based on the enemy encounter whether you like this post or not. this will just ensure the official bandits don’t bother anyone who would rather be left alone.

naturally, we haven’t done any official battles yet either, so that will require some trial and error as well, but we’re confident we’ll get the system down with a little test running. consider yourself a bit of a guinea pig if you like this post. we ask for your patience during all of this, but hopefully it’ll all be a lot of fun regardless, and will help ensure future official battles run more smoothly.

BANDITS have been spotted ALL AROUND DEYUIS. they are plaguing towns and trade routes alike, attacking and stealing whatever they are able to, though they tend to avoid cities or anywhere heavily fortified. they mostly use AXES to fight. their attacks are strong, but can be a bit clumsy, as many of them tend to be overconfident and reckless. these bandits have 20 HP, and it is recommended only characters LEVEL ONE OR ABOVE take them on.