MASTERY OF THE ARTS

[Crusher]

If MoTA dies we lose all that hard work. Where is everyone? o_O. Come baaack!

 

=Cameron=

[DOOM Bringer]

Wha? I'm here! Pick me, pick me! *waves arm around enthusiastically*

 

Anyway, congrats to the winners! Don't let MoTA die (even though it won't)!

[Crusher]

Thanks Tom ;P. Theo's back, which means story coming ASAP. Trust me, it rocks.

 

=Cameron=

[antiaircraft]

Eh? I wrote that story in the middle of a heavy and extremely long attack of writer's block, so it's not really that good.

 

But I'm working on a few edits to get it up to standard. ;)

[Crusher]

Whatever Theo, I still say it rocked sans the edits XD. Xepha, Izzy, Metroid, spend your points please :). Your prizes have all been updated on the main page :).

=Cameron=

[antiaircraft]

Hmm... well if I have the time I'll post the completed story later this evening - note the 'if I have time' clause. :graduated:

[Crusher]

Awesome news Theo! If anyone is interested, we're working on the Mage logo and weapon stats right now... This thing has a lot of work involved! XD

 

=Cameron=

[antiaircraft]

MoTA Update!

 

All MoTA participants are recommended to check out all the following links in order to prepare themselves for the contest proper, however they are classified by importance in case any of you don't have the time to do so.

 

Critical:

MoTA Tutorial

Current skills list (second half of post)

Story chapter 3 (below)

 

Relatively important:

Participants list (check your present stats and the names of your team-mates, spend any remaining mastery points)

MoTA design contest results

 

Less important:

Story chapter 1

Story chapter 2 (first half of post)

 

And now for the long awaited 3rd story chapter, entitled 'Milskin Pass':

 

There was a light fog in the air when Cranky and the nine knights rode into the camp. While it reduced visibility, it also infused the evening with a cool, soothing touch. The atmosphere had seeped into most of the warriors in the unit, and many of them were resting on the ground inside the camp. Even the sentries were more relaxed than normal. Cranky, on the other hand, was more alert than ever – staying sharp under all circumstances was one of the things that had kept him alive all these years.

 

After a brief conversation with one of the soldiers on watch duty, the lieutenant signalled the four most senior knights in the unit to follow him. The new knights started to move off, sensing that they wouldn't be needed, but Cranky beckoned to them as well.

 

“You're new to this game, that's for sure, but you don't learn something without giving it a shot.”

 

The knights exchanged brief glances with their more experienced counterparts, then followed Cranky into a large tent near the back of the camp. Pushing stiffly through the thick entrance flap, they found themselves in a stuffy but well lit space. The light came from oil lamps placed carefully on stands around the edges of the tent. The stands were secured to the wall by rigid straps made of some kind of specially cured leather, and there was a complicated network of small tubes around the edge of the tent designed to vent the smoke in a thin veil that would be quickly dispersed by the wind before it could give away their position. The entire floor was covered in highly detailed maps, with small wooden figurines marking known enemy positions, friendly units, towns, cities, and various significant areas of terrain.

 

The new knights glanced around in mild amazement, but Cranky and the senior warriors simply strode in as if this was where they had worked for years. Upon further reflection, this was not particularly surprising.

 

“Well, it's nice to see you arrived safely Lieutenant Ardan.” came a voice from the middle of the sea of maps. A small figure that the new knights had missed in the cluttered space resolved into the form of the unit's general.

 

“It's nice to see you're alive too, General Joshua.” Cranky saluted stiffly, fulfilling his obligation to protocol, and then proceeded to light a large black tobacco pipe.

 

“Formal as always lieutenant. I see you brought in some additions to our planning committee.” The general broke into a wry smile at his out-of-place attempt at humour, and gestured for the others to sit down around the map he had been examining.

 

“So Joshua, what crazy mission have our esteemed royal strategists given us this time?”

 

Dragillion shot one of the senior knights a questioning glance – Cranky did not usually give an opinion on something until he had taken a good look at it. The senior soldier returned the glance with a reassuring grin, and a rude gesture that indicated his agreement with Cranky's statement.

 

“It appears that scouts have discovered a hidden mage facility embedded deep into Mount Meoring, here.” The general pointed to the easternmost of the four mountains that towered over Milskin pass. He then picked up a small scroll with the official seal of the Calderas war planning centre and began reading.

 

“It is highly likely that this is the main centre for the training of the Order's battle mages. A victory here would deal a massive blow to the mage forces, and greatly strengthen our glorious war effort. Your unit has sufficient numbers and fire-power to overwhelm the weak resistance that you are sure to encounter in a direct frontal assault of this unit, so without further ado, you are hereby ordered to commit all the resources you deem necessary into a single, crushing blow on the treacherous scum that inhabit the mountain. Good luck.”

 

Cranky snorted in a combination of amusement and contempt. “The Calderas were always an arrogant bunch. They think that soldiers are just mindless pawns who'll follow orders without any idea of what's really going on up top.”

 

The general raised an eyebrow. “You and I are of the same mind then, but I believe our juniors require a more thorough explanation of our conclusions.”

 

Cranky nodded, then continued in his version of a matter-of-fact voice (that is to say it was marginally less harsh than usual). “Firstly, coming up against any facility this important, the resistance we'll meet is sure to be anything but weak. Look how fiercely the mages defend even their isolated, tactically unimportant outposts – we're going to have to try and attack a battle mage training school, and trust me, they're nothing like the boot camps you softies started out in. Mages actually learn to fight there, and darn well too.

 

“Secondly, this unit doesn't have the numbers or the fire-power to overwhelm a half-rotted log bridge, let alone a fully defended mage outpost. We're undermanned and undertrained, and the Calderas planners know it. Most of the veterans are off fighting glorious and honourable but strategically useless battles off on the western frontier. The units actually trying to win the war are left with only five or six experienced soldiers apiece – the rest are all newbies or delivery boys who've never seen any actual combat but think that they're the finest men in the kingdom all the same.

 

“Thirdly, the training school was magically carved deep into an entire mountain for Xhemerea's* sake! I've seen facilities like this before: the mages use hidden magic circles to teleport themselves in and out, but even if we could locate the magical entry points, we'd need a proficient mage on our side to get us in. In case you've been in a daydream for the last month or so, friendly mages are rather a bit scarce these days.”

 

“So we need a different strategy.” The statement came, somewhat unexpectedly, from Levy, who had been listening in an attentive silence for the duration of the lieutenant's speech.

 

“That much, at least, is certain.” replied the general with an affirmative gesture.

 

“Well I assume that means you've already come up with something. Typical general, you go and run up a plan without even bothering to check with your officers first.” Cranky growled, but he said this with a grin, which spread rapidly through the whole group.

 

“Very well then.” The general picked up a wooden pointer from the floor beside him and and indicated a large wooden 'X' on the map in front of him. “Our target is here.” Flipping the pointer around expertly between his index and middle fingers, the general tapped another figurine, this one a small yellow flag. “Our current base camp is here. I have also taken the liberty of establishing three watch points here, here, and here. No offence meant to you Ardan, but I saw little wisdom in waiting for your arrival before beginning our reconnaissance.”

 

The lieutenant gave a non-committal grunt, and signalled for him to continue.

 

“So far, we have been able to locate, either by direct sighting or deduction, that there are mage watchtowers established in a scattered perimeter around the mountain.” The pointer marked out a rough circle of small disc-shaped figurines painted with small eye patterns etched into them.

 

“The towers are shaped out of solid stone, possibly magically reinforced, and are no doubt manned by skilled battle mages. There is also evidence that the towers at these seven key points are equipped with scrying mechanisms, but that still leaves wide gaps that are not monitored by magic. The towers themselves have very little in the way of windows, so the battle mages manning them will probably have difficulty in spotting a small number of soldiers moving stealthily.

 

“Our early scouting has therefore given us a significant advantage, identifying several areas where we should be able to successfully infiltrate a small team through the enemy's defences. Unfortunately, the mages are almost certainly aware of the presence of kingdom soldiers in the area, although I doubt that they are aware that it consists of anything more than a few forward scouts. Given appropriate coordination, I am confident that we will be able to do some serious damage to enemy's resources here, but not the positions themselves.”

 

“We still haven't solved the problem of actually getting at anything of real value.” One of the senior knights pointed out, earning a withering glare from Cranky. The general simply raised an eyebrow.

 

“It is correct that our small force would be incapable of damaging the enemy forces here if we utilized conventional tactics, but Ardan and I have had some, ah, experience with major mage installations, and we are fairly certain that whoever is in charge of the facility would not wish to place any of the magical artefacts contained inside the school at risk. It seems likely that there is some form of contingency plan in place to remove any items of importance, and that this removal will take place through mundane means to reduce the risk of losing any artefacts to magical failure.”

 

“So your basic plan is to hit them hard and catch whatever comes out the other side?” asked one of the senior knights, frowning slightly (but with obvious enthusiasm). “Sounds like a good plan. Of course, plans generally go wrong around this unit.”

 

“'We all fall victim to the whims of the Lord of Chance*,'” agreed the general, “although in my opinion that saying puts it a little too lightly. I have, however, done my best to devise a strategy which will maximise our chance of success.”

 

Picking up the pointer again, he pointed to a thin line of string that had been carefully laid onto the map. “A large group of seasoned troops will follow this path and set themselves up for a strike. I have deliberately designed the path to simulate the patterns that would be followed by a large force orchestrating a surprise attack, although it would be impossible to mobilise a such a large group undetected.

 

“Once, in position, the force will split up and proceed with a three-pronged attack manoeuvre towards the towers on the eastern bank of the Sundaest River, here. Each group will engage one tower and any reinforcements that arrive for as long as possible before falling back. Their main priority is to occupy the mages for as long as possible – heroics are strongly discouraged.

 

“Simultaneously, a smaller group of soldiers (which I assume Ardan wishes to hand-pick) will proceed through the marshes on the western side of Mount Meoring and take up observation positions throughout this stretch of land. Our scouting of the area has been rather sparse, so I advise caution in avoiding both natural hazards and magical wards.

 

“Once the observers detect a significant number of active mage signal flares, indicating that the first group has begun their attack, they will advance and fan out so as to effectively cover the marshland surrounding these four landmarks.” The pointer danced its way over four points marked out on the map, labelled with a number of terrain features unusual enough to be distinct but not immediately obvious as possible rendezvous points.

 

“I marked the most likely evacuation routes on the map in red, but there is no doubt that the mages will be ready to re-route if they suspect an ambush, hence the need for skilled observers to spread out for a successful intercept. If all goes well, the soldiers should be able to attack the mage convoy as it passes through the marshes, destroying or damaging multiple artefacts before pulling back with minimal losses. Likewise, the larger group should be able to successfully mount the distraction and pull back without major losses.” The general crisply placed the pointer on the ground to indicate that he had finished.

 

“I don't like this,” Cranky remarked, frowning, “there are far too many loose ends for my taste. Still, it's not like there's much else we can try.”

 

“Well maybe if Calderas would give us a decent unit, with a few hundred siege machines and a thousand horsemen, we could come up with a strategy that had a decent chance of success.” muttered the most weathered-looking of the senior knights.

 

“Unfortunately, the chances of that occurring within the time frame of this operation are negligible.” the general said dryly. “Lieutenant – I assume your statement counts as an approval?”

 

Cranky nodded slowly, a slight twitching of his left hand indicating that he was deep in thought.

 

“Does everybody in this room approve of our plan of attack?” the general queried. One by one, the knights in the room nodded.

 

“Then I hereby initiate this operation. You may leave and prepare the unit. Lieutenant – I believe that now would be the best time for us to discuss your choice of knights for the second group.”

 

The warriors stood, nodded to the general, and filed out of the tent. Once outside, the senior knights headed off to prepare the troops under their command. The others stood talking to each other, somewhat bewildered by the experience of being included in a war council and unsure of what to do next. Then Cranky strode out of the tent and headed towards them, causing them all to stand rigidly to attention.

 

“Well congratulations boys and girls – Joshua and I have decided you'll be heading into the marshes at midnight along with the rest of group B. I'll be leading group A, so you can trust that the diversion will be on time.”

 

Cranky raised an eyebrow at the speechless expressions presented to him. “What? You didn't think I'd stick you with the diversion team after exclusively tutoring you for three weeks did you?”

 

There were a few seconds of obligatory head shaking, after which Cranky sighed and lowered himself slowly onto a nearby tree stump. “You've got talent – I'm good at seeing people who won't make good soldiers, even with years of training, but I'm even better at spotting the ones that will. Take the general for example – he's not a strong guy, okay with a rapier but handles heavy swords with all the skill of a tap dancing elephant. He's a bright man though – a little help along with a decade or so of practice and now he can out-think his old mentor.” Cranky broke into a rare, warm smile.

 

“I did say that I trained every warrior in this unit, didn't I? He's got a brilliant tactical eye, Joshua. He can spot the kinks in any strategy and correct or exploit them to his advantage as easily as you or I could find the fish balls in a bowl of soup ration. Was about to be drummed out of the force when I first met him, but I turned that around pretty fast. Got a hiding or two from my superior, but it was worth it. Oh yes, it really was.” Cranky chuckled dreamily, and the smoke from his pipe swirled up idly into the still night air. The moment, however, didn't last long. After coughing throatily for several seconds, Cranky's face reverted to its usual scowl.

 

“Just do you lot think you're standing around for?! A battle doesn't prepare itself! Unless you lot plan to go running off into enemy territory without any weapons?”

 

There was a chorus of vigorous 'No sir!'s.

 

“Well then get your soft backsides over to the armoury before I do you a favour and turn them into Ranghklesian spaghetti**!”

 

*Xhemerea, also known as the 'Lord of Chance', is for the most part considered a minor deity in the kingdom. However, as luck is almost always the deciding factor between life and death in a battle, soldiers consider him the most important spirit of all, making frequent prayers to him and cussing with his name.

 

**Ranghklesia is a large city in the kingdom renowned for its cuisine. One of its most intriguing dishes (the recipe of which is a closely guarded secret) is a type of spaghetti so thin that it is rumoured to be invisible when viewed from one end. Therefore, the figure of speech 'Ranghklesian spaghetti' is used to refer to very small, thin strips.

[Revenge]

Cool! We get to pick our weapons now! And then we're off to the action-ey part of this contest! Well' after the mages, of course.

[Xepha]

For your information, I spent my points ;p

 

The chapter seems to be good. I need to read it more carefully later though.

[Crusher]

Thanks Xepha, your points are updated and you are now seem to be the strongest in-game character :O.

 

=Cameron=

[Guest Levy]

Soooo... has this thing started yet or not?

[Crusher]

Actually, *hushed voices* no. XD XD. We're doing our absolute best though. Izzy updated with her MP. Someone kick Metroid XD.

 

=Cameron=

[antiaircraft]

Well it's about to start - for like the tenth time. :P We're working extra hard to get this going though, so stay tuned!

 

*Pulls out sniper rifle and runs off to find Metroid*

[Xepha]

It is not really a good time to kick Metroid... But next time I see him around, I'll give him a shout.

[antiaircraft]

Well I guess we should just wait for him to get around to TDN if he's busy...

[Crusher]

Okay, I know this going to sound like a pack of lies to you guys, (since every time one of us is free something comes up for the other), but we are making progress on the weapon stats as we speak. We're doing our best, don't give up on us!

 

=Cameron=

[antiaircraft]

Well technically speaking, the weapons stats would have been ready several months ago, but both Cameron and I cleared our PM folders at the same time, each assuming that the other had kept a copy, so we ended up having to redo them from scratch. :P

[Parshy]

Why did the bulk of the first post turn red?

[antiaircraft]

Uh, it seems that the rich text editor messed up some of the formatting tags in the post. I'll poke Cameron to see if he can fix it once he gets online.

[Meeptroid]

After sustaining multiple bruisings and bullets, I found my way through the thick foilage of topics back to this one.

 

I'll screw around with my points now.

[antiaircraft]

Bullets, bullets?! Who put bullets in this world? Bullets aren't allowed here! *Storms off waving giant sword*

 

Apologies for the randomness, I guess I'm a little too obsessed with the storyline. :P Welcome back Metroid!

[Xepha]

Yay, my pokage worked ;o

 

Soooo! When is this contest finaly starting? It would be nice to see it running before my birthday :P

[antiaircraft]

Weapon selection will be the final pre-battle stage. Once Cameron gets the weapon stats done, we should be able to move on to the first battle. :yes:

[̊ ˉˉ ̊]

We get to choose weapons soon?

I wonder which one will be most lethal with Beserking Charge?