Redwall Abbey

Prompt:
They said it would never happen again, but now it is and the situation is more dire than ever. This morning, the Redwallers woke up to the shout of Brother Fred coming from the Western wall top. Below him on the path was a vicious conglomerate of vermin.

Mother Abbess Hannah was called and she spoke with them. Hannah is a feisty field mouse, don't let her age fool you! A former adventurer herself, the insults she hurled at the vermin, who were very clear about their intentions to kill and plunder, were enough to make even the Skipper flush.

Now Redwall is in a predicament: 25 score vermin (500) are on the path and they will be attacking the abbey at any moment. It has been seasons upon seasons since the last warlord had tried to take Redwall. Worse yet, this is the first time in a great while in which there has not been an abbey warrior (rather, the Skipper, Foremole, Lead Treejumper and Abbess have been covering for the role). One thing the abbey creatures do have, however, is history. A history which recounts, in full, the details of previous warlords, their tactics and their mistakes. It's all a matter of digging up the right documents and figuring out what to do before it's too late!


Playable Characters

Abbess Hannah: a former adventurer who found her home at Redwall, Abbess Hannah is an older fieldmouse with a witty tongue in her mouth. She always has a response. While she can remember how to take care of herself from her younger days, she has never had to defend an entire abbey from an army!

Skipper: This relatively young, male otter and his team are the closest the abbey has to warriors. Skipper has been in a brawl before, and is a natural team leader. While spear fishing is one of his strengths, war is not.

Foremole: A good, humble creature who is usually rather shy when speaking in front of great groups of creatures. However, nobeast in the abbey is as good with a hammer and nail as the good ole foremole and his crew! Carpentry is second nature to him.

Champion Treejumper: Lady Ellen leads the abbey's squirrels. She is an acrobat through and through, and is much younger than the Abbess, Skipper and Foremole. Strangely enough, though, a bow and arrow is not her game. In fact, she has always focused on treejumping, never combat! This is new territory for her.

Brother Fred: The abbey librarian. He will be essential in the quest to find out more information from the Abbey library on how to stop the vermin they are facing. He may be older, but his eyes are sharp and his bones stronger than ever! He should not be underestimated.

Zanna Crowely the Plunderer: When an immovable object meet an unstoppable force, it creates a Giant Rat named Zanna Crowely. She comes from the South and has no interest other than to loot, pillage and plunder. Many have tried standing in the feared warlord's path, but none have been able to stop her yet! Even worse, her army has grown in both reputation and size, and it reaches far in front of where she goes. A skilled beast in combat with her flail, and a masterful strategist, it will take more than an immovable object to stop Zanna Crowely!

Rune: An almost dwarfish-sized fox who is also Zanna's seer and advisor. Starting out as a slave in Zanna's army, Rune has raised herself higher than the Zanna's captains on nothing but her wit and will to survive.

_______: ___________________ (player's choice! Choosing to make a character does not gain or lose one consideration when judging occurs. Be sure to introduce your character if you make one).


How to play (everyone please read)!
To be considered for points, one must post in the RP at least 4 times. Judging is based off of quality of post. The winner of the war is not necessarily the winner of the RP in judging. That title goes to whoever does the best job with progressing the story and playing their part.

All OOC and IC posts will occur on this topic. No extra topics have been made. OOC posts do not count toward the 4-post minimum to be considered for judging.

Players will RP as one or more of the characters above. One may play as other characters, but may not god-mode. If a dispute should arise, then the post that caused the problem should be re-written (this expedites the problem-solving process and allows for the RP to carry on). Bickering does not bode well for when judging comes around.

Anyone may jump in at any time. The abbey and invaders are both big! So it's okay if creatures disappear from view and come back later. Though we encourage interaction.

I call dibs on Rune!

I'll take the role of Foremole if nobody wants it ;D

I'll go for Lady Ellen.

Want to start when we get a fourth person in? Or does someone want to kick things off now? ;D

I'll take Zanna Crowely

Before we start I has a question. Since there's about four of us (Hi HoltLutra, by the way! Nice to meetcha) do we/can we just all kinda control the other characters as needed as well?

I'd be willing to take the Abbess. She sounds amazing.

I will proudly take Foremole. I may need to brush up on my molespeak, but I think it's tragic that moles are so underrepresented in fanfiction and RPs. They may not make good action heroes, but mole sense is what the Abbey runs off of.

I'll take Brother Fred. (I like old wise-like characters and it would be an interesting experience.)

i'll take skipper

Should we start right when If Brother Fred finds the horde or build on it first?

Somebeast needs to be Zanna.

HoltLutra is.

My eyes. Do not. Work.

According to the posts:

Abbess Hannah: Crumb
Skipper: Nadaz
Foremole: Tammo or Wylder
Champion Treejumper: Corn
Brother Fred: Krantor
Zanna Crowely the Plunderer: HoltLutra
Rune: Ashleg

Quote from: Krantor the Brutal on November 08, 2017, 05:28:46 AM
According to the posts:

Abbess Hannah: Crumb
Skipper: Nadaz
Foremole: Tammo or Wylder
Champion Treejumper: Corn
Brother Fred: Krantor
Zanna Crowely the Plunderer: HoltLutra
Rune: Ashleg

@Wylder Treejumper you be foremole :D I'll switch over to a new character.

Character (made my own): Walter (or Wally), Brother Fred's helper in the library. He has a tendency to take on more things than he can handle and it results in him forgetting some things or doing a lousy job at something across the board. He likes books, but longs to run around the countryside as a painter sometimes. It's less stressful than preserving old books. Fighting isn't his thing, but he's a good thinker!

Quote from: Cornflower MM on November 04, 2017, 01:28:31 AM
Before we start I has a question. Since there's about four of us (Hi HoltLutra, by the way! Nice to meetcha) do we/can we just all kinda control the other characters as needed as well?

Yes, control other characters as needed! Just be conscious as to how this might affect other's play. Alrighty, we have enough people! If you guys want to click "notify" for this topic so you can get alerts when new posts are made, or perhaps set an alarm for every once in a while, that will make chai houg back here easier.

Let's get going! New people, feel free to jump in from here on out!

IC: The timing of the vermin could not have been worse for poor Wally. The mouse had just caught up on his work that Fred had assigned to him and was finally taking a crack at his favorite hobby in the orchard when he heard the news. Wally longed to be a painter. He had only done it once, and the work was mediocre, but that was enough to make the young mouse think that he had chosen the wrong job in life. The lids on each of Wally's neatly organized jars of paint had not even been cracked open yet when shouts came from farther down the lawns. Initially trying to ignore it, he had no success.

About a day later, Fred had told Wally that, since nobeast at Redwall abbey really had any fighting experience, they would need to dig up as many records as possible that detailed the battles Redwall had faced in its past and how the abbeydwellers then were able to fend of the vermin. Time was of the essence and the atmosphere of anxiety was already starting to weigh on the spirits of the good brothers and sisters. Seated atop a tall ladder in the now very crowded and bustling abbey library and pouring over a thin booklet titled Summer of the Logalogs for any mentions of the words "vermin", "war", or "warrior", Wally chanced a glance out the tall windows of the room. He could see the West Walltop and main gate, as well as the lawns in front of it. It made him feel anxious for his home.

OOC: I've set this up for a transition into what someone else is doing. Whether you're Brother Fred, someone on the lawns, someone on the walltop, or someone on the path and beyond, maybe Wally sees you? Or maybe not. It's all up to you!

Zanna Crowely stood at the head of her army. The massive horde behind her marched in place. The noise was deafening, dust rose from the ground. She turned around and pointed to a dull red speck in the distance. As she rose her hand, the horde silenced. "Redwall Abbey! A buildin' full o' treasure, vittles, an' plunder. Ours for the takin!" Her horde, an assortment of rats, weasels, ferrets, and some foxes, cheered uproariously, "Zanna! Zanna! The Great Plunderer! Zanna! Zanna!" She smiled in satisfaction and swung her flail above her head. She began to march again, the horde followed behind her, still cheering.

skipper was fishing in the abbey pond when he heard brother fred screaming forgetting he was on a boat skipper walked straight into the water he swam ashore and ran as fast as he could through the pear orchards towards the main gate when he arrived he barred the gate and collapsed on the soft grass shocked by what he had seen and heard.

Brother Fred, the Abbey Librarian was walking upon the barracks one fine morning. While the weather was nice and all, he felt something was amiss. Then he saw it. In his horror, he gave a terrible yelp and yelled, "All beasts to me, all beasts to me! There is a terrifying clamoring of a vermin horde approaching, in fact, they are vast in number. They are an army, with one sole purpose to attack Redwall Abbey!"

Abbess Hannah normally woke in the morning with thoughts concerning the usual day to day order of Abbey life. She awoke no later or earlier than usual today, but there was no humdrum to her routine. The air within her chamber and outside felt more somber. No moment since she had awoken was absent the knowledge of the vermin horde. A danger like that hung over the process of pulling on a habit or walking to the kitchens, as was her normal policy every few days, to assist the friar in making his famous scones. It was one of the few, if not the only, recipe the friar had ever modified in all his seasons. A score of seasons ago, Hannah had demonstrated a trick in their preparation she had learned seasons ago from an old squirrelmother. The friar had proclaimed it a genius innovation, and thus began his baking-based friendship with the future Abbess. Already in the cool day, Hannah had went to the kitchens as planned, vermin horde aside. That was what an Abbess needed to do for sake of the Abbey. That the friar and his sleepy assistants seemed themselves to be handing the news relatively well had done much to ease her nerves.

Later, the Abbess had visited the gatehouse to check on any news regarding the threat. Of course, anything severe would have been ferried to her already, but she was intent on maintaining a thorough line of communication. Having heard there was nothing to report, Hannah began a slow, steady walk back towards the Abbey, sun behind her. Upon looking up at the Abbey, she immediately noticed Wally. The mouse was busy, reading and studying, likely under the direction of Brother Fred, at some level. She decided she should check on the brother and his library efforts. It would at least give her the chance to check on the upper floors of the Abbey, in any case.

Zanna reveled in the shrieks of terrified beasts. As they neared the Abbey she heard the dull thud of the gate being barred from the inside. She shouted up to the walltops, "Ahoy, anybeast up there? We wanna parlay with ya!" She began to tap her foot impatiently. She pointed to her archers. They all knocked an arrow and drew back their bows. The bows were then aimed to the walltops. Another hand signal told the archers to hold that position.

OOC: It looks like some people are RPing as the vermin approach Redwall and some are RPing a little after the vermin already showed up. Since more people are doing the former of those two, we'll keep going under the impression that the vermin have just showed up. That way more of us are together on the same page. For judging, this won't count against anyone who was RPing under different pretense. Any questions on that as we continue???

IC: Wally's eye first spotted the Abbess, and a few other creatures, about on the lawn, but something was quite odd about the day. He nearly fell from his perch atop the ladder when a seemingly overflow of vermin on the path came into focus. He had no idea what they were doing, but this was bad - really bad! Or at least it looked so. Regaining his balance, Wally re-shelved the book, slid down the ladder and was off. "vermin at the front gate! A whole swarm of 'em! Somebody get the Abbess, she's downstairs, hurr-"

Wally did not get any further. In the (unintentional) panic he had caused by shouting 'vermin', and in his mad dash to get downstairs, Wally ran headlong into the Abbess while he was running down the stairs. The two toppled over. Frantically giving an apology, Wally helped the Abbess up and told her the news between gasps and more apologies, "Sorry, mother... Vermin... front gate... lots of 'em... hurry!"

ooc: sure. 


The sudden impact of the mouse tumbling down the stairs into the Abbess took Hannah by surprise. She had been meaning to return a tome to the librarian and instead lost the tome via a mouse collision. Diminutive as she might be, Hannah was agile enough to avoid a complete collapse. The more bookish Wally was perhaps not as lucky in the falling out. Hannah first helped the younger mouse up, noting as she did the situation that had been unfolding. Wally had been screaming, and now was mumbling. She sighed, and steadied him.
"What did you see, and where? Come on, Wally, what has led you to running down stairs with such enthusiasm?"

Zanna called up again, "Last chance!" When she saw that nobeast was coming, she dropped her paw and the archers released a volley over the walls. Zanna's archers quickly reloaded and aimed another volley.

Foremole Brunn was out in one of the Abbey gardens, carefully planting some of his beloved seedlings into neat rows. With a gentle touch, he picked up a strawberry seedling. laid it in the neat trench he had carved out with his digging claws, and carefully heaped up a pile of dirt over the roots, pressing lightly to compact the soil around the plant. "Thurr ee go, likkle seedling. Noice an' easy naow." Turning from the seedling, he picked up his watering can and wet the soil all around the newly transplanted shoot. "Oi'll give ee a noice drinker, hurr aye."

Suddenly, an arrow whisked past his head and thudded into the small mound of dirt around the strawberry plant. Foremole frowned and turned his head back towards the gate, where he could hear Wally dithering on about vermin outside. Wiping his claws off on his apron, Foremole stood up, plucked the arrow from the dirt, and tossed it off to one side. "Rarscully vermints! Arrers doan't be a growin' in moi gardens!" He turned and walked over to the Abbess, who was looking surprised-like at an arrow sticking out from between her footpaws. "H'abbess, marm, we'm best be gettin ee beasters insoide, an' summ gurt slingers and h'archers oop on ee fortickerfations, afore usn's get stickled!"

"There's gotta be hundreds of 'em!" Wally exclaimed with his paws stretched above him. He immediately took them back down lest they get struck by any arrows. "How do we even take care o' something like this?!"

Abbess Hannah, being able to think a bit more clearly in such a frightening time, pulled Wally by the paw out of the way of an incoming arrow. All creatures were ordered to empty the abbey grounds. Someone would have to talk to the vermin out front.

When the arrows were fired Skip ducked into the abbey gatehouse and yelled to the vermin "cease your fire we will parley". Grabbing his sling and fishing spear he picked up some pebbles and escorted abbess Hannah slowly up the western wall steps. At the top he peeked out and cried "what are your demands, speak fast and leave our abbey in peace".

As Zanna heard the otter shout out to her, she had her archers lower their bows for the moment. "We just want some vittles and plunder from you luvly beasts. Ahhh...wait a minute. On second thought, we also want that amazing Abbey of yours. What do ya say, little beasties? We can attack at any minute!"

"I will have you know, young one," Brother Fred stated, "our Abbey, has always stood for righteousness, and good. We cannot simply surrender it to those with malicious and evil intent."

OOC: I guess I'll go ahead and make a character and jump in.

Raylin: A young squirrel who would like to go adventuring far beyond the Abbey walls sometime. She's good at climbing trees, and is an average shot with a sling. She's usually good-natured and likes to laugh. She is a bit over-confident in her abilities, though, and is sometimes sarcastic.

BIC:
Raylin was up in a tree when she heard shouts and cries of alarm from the Abbey. She heard someone yell, "Vermin!" and immediately her ears perked up. She scampered up to a higher branch where she could just barely see over the Abbey wall, and gasped in horror and alarm at what she saw. She couldn't see much from where she was, but she could make out scruffy fur, ragged clothing and weapons. Lots of weapons. Chipped swords, blunted spears, and jagged knives. Though the weapons weren't in the best of shape, they still looked like they could do a lot of damage.

Seeing Abbess Hannah, Skipper, and Brother Fred on the North Wall, she leaped to the ground and ran for the stairs. She climbed hurriedly and reached the top in time to hear Brother Fred finish speaking. She reached the little group and stood next to them, looking over the side of the wall, down at the creatures amassed at their gate. It was a huge army. They all brandished weapons, and were yelling threats up at the four creatures on the wall.

Raylin gritted her teeth and crossed her arms across her chest. How dare they. How dare they come over here and expect us to just hand over the Abbey to them, she thought. Who are these idiots?!

She held back biting insults, though, and glanced over at the others, wondering what they would say.

The Abbess, flanked by Brother Fred and Skipper, stepped up to the parapet, decisively resting her forepaws on the heated stone. Nothing of the horde was hidden. Here was a true threat facing down her beloved, adopted Abbey. She found the speaker easily, and adjusted her head to make clear eye contact. She would not be cowed, not in her Abbey, nor anywhere near it. Brother Fred, the creature who had first welcomed her inside the gates seasons ago, had spoken bravely and honorably in defense of all the Abbey stood for, to its residents and all Mossflower. Peace was the value she had adopted and embraced. And unlike far too many of the Abbey's peachier souls, she knew the opposite of peace. And she knew an undeterrable hostile threat when she saw it. She whispered to Skipper, telling him to check all the wicker gates were secure, and turned towards the path below her. The Abbess, on no level consciously bidden, offered her innermost thoughts to the giant rat and plunderer below her.

"Listen, you overgrown rat! Whatever unconscionable schemes...strike that. Let me say something you'll be able to wrap your enormous ears around, and not just drip off the back of that colossal skull of yours. This Abbey is armed, and we do not take our joy and plenitude for granted. Its defenses are lean and primed. If you're looking for a  cowardly, miserable, pickletoed, toggle-eared, mossy-coated, bloated easy picking, take a look in a pail of water! Larger hordes than yours have faced this Abbey, and none survived. We are generous creatures, so let me offer one a piece of advice. Take your flail, your ditchwater-colored army and go find a log to conquer, a challenge that actually befits that lump of oat-mash atop your shoulders!"

Long ago, a philosopher-hare Hannah had met in her travels in the south badgered her with unanswerable questions. One of them, she remembered, had something to do with what would happen if a complex and very large tome made contact with a specimen of vermin whose capacity for smart and clear thinking had been called into severe doubt. Unfortunately, the philosopher-hare was not present when the surprising still spry Abbess reached into her habit, leapt onto the parapets, and hurled down a history tome, formerly property of Brother Fred, onto the head of Zanna Crowely.

Zanna, ever quick on her feet, managed to lean slightly to the side. The tome missed her head but still slammed into her paw. There was a sickening crack as her paw broke as the tome hit it. Zanna slowly looked from her now-useless paw to the aging squirrel standing on the parapets above. Zanna could see that the squirrel would do anything to defend her Abbey. "You stupid squirrel! Once I get into that precious Abbey of yours, I'll take care of you myself!" At a slight nod from Zanna, the archers sent a volley straight toward the four beasts that dared to stand in her way. Zanna grabbed the shoulder of a black fox, her healer, and walked to the back of the army with the fox healer. "Fall back! Make camp. We aren't giving up that easily!"

Wally turned to Raylin the squirrel, who was also hiding behind the ramparts. He was about to let out a string of curses but cut himself off and winced as several arrows, each dangerous enough to kill, sailed overhead and arched down to the abbey lawns. Wally could hardly believe it - Redwall was now at war!

Regaining his composure, Wally turned once again to Raylin, "Did... Mother Abbess just throw the very old, very priceless, and only copy of the Colonel Wolff tome we have at Redwall... at a warlord as a weapon? Because I truly hope she did not. And if she did - to which I say again, I truly hope she did not - I hope none of those monsters can read. Colonel Wolff was a military genius!"

Skip was walking down the wall steps when the arrows soared past him. he followed the abbess'S advise and barred the wallgates he then headed inside to marshal those who could fight to grab their weapons and prepare for battle.

Raylin ducked behind the protection of the ramparts, wincing as arrows arced down around them, thudding into the ground below the walls. Hearing Wally's remark about the tome, she turned towards him and grimaced. "Yeah, I think she did. I sure hope they can't read!" She glanced around. "We need to get back to the main building before we get killed! Come on."

Crawling on all fours so she wouldn't expose herself above the top of the battlements, she headed for the stairs. The squirrelmaid glanced back at the others and beckoned for them to follow.

As Zanna made her retreat, she nudged the heavy book with the long knife she kept in her belt. "Grab this." she told the fox, gesturing toward the big book.

As the army reached the flatlands outside the Abbey, well out of arrow range, the horde made camp. Dusk began to fall on Mossflower. The vermin lit fires and began cooking their meager vittles, which consisted mostly of roots and fruit, with the occasional bird mixed in. Zanna called three of her officers to her at the roaring fire in the center of camp. The officers were Ashtail (the black fox), Halfchop( a tall weasel who carried a battleaxe), and a rat simply known as the Shadow. The Shadow was the officer that Zanna really wanted to see. "Shadow, I need you to go check out the Abbey under cover of dusk. See if you could find anywhere we could get in, or where the defenses seem the weakest." The rat nodded and slowly disappeared into the darkness around the camp.

After he left, Zanna began to flip through the tome that the insolent squirrel had thrown at her. Zanna was one of the few vermin in her horde who actually knew how to read. She looked at the cover. It read, Colonel Wolf. Zanna's interest was suddenly aroused when she saw diagrams and sketches of beasts fighting. "Well, this could be useful!" she whispered to herself.

Hannah's gambit at serious injury to the horde leader thoroughly unsuccessful, she deftly climbed down the stairs. The Abbess shook her head sadly once she stood alongside Raylin. "I feel I've made a blunder here, friends."
The Abbess scanned the Abbey grounds. No creatures were present except those near the gatehouse, and Skipper as he headed for Cavern Hole. That was good -no Abbeybeasts vulnerable to attack, random arrow or otherwise. Hannah resisted the urge to turn back to look at the walls. She knew the walls were there, and were strong. Nonetheless, the feeling of unreality was creeping back onto her, the incident atop the wall fading away. She decided to ignore the sensation, and addressed Brother Fred.
"Brother, I regret the loss of your book. But if you are able, perhaps a few of the other ones you have might be of use now? In the meantime, we need to find everybeast Skipper finds and deems of use. We should make sure the perimeter of the Abbey is secure. How exactly we defend beyond that precaution...I don't know."
Hannah had never previously considered how to defend Redwall against an attack. She remembered enough of her young seasons to know the danger of vermin, and basic strategy for the Abbey as it stood around her. But in all her seasons here, she had not encountered any threat remotely like this.

OOC: Oh no... Zanna can read >8(

BIC: Wally was back in Redwall's library. At Brother Fred's orders, he was pulling out every article that could possibly have mentioned anything about war, fighting, battles, warriors, war lords, and the Long Patrol. Books made an intimidating tower on the various desks about the great room. Brother Fred entered the library, Abbess Hannah in tow. He was explaining to her the plan: to search through as many of Redwall's records as possible and collect everything having to do with defending the abbey. They would use this new collection as a means of not only fighting back against Zanna Crowely, but maybe even predicting how they would attack!

As the pair entered, Wally exclaimed to himself, "The Long Patrol! They could save us! Gotta find out if there are any birds nearby who could make the trip to Salamandastron with a message. I remember reading somewhere that birds usually live in Redwall's attics..."

OOC: @Crumb and @Krantor the Brutal , I hope you don't mind me playing a tiny bit as you to bring things up to the library! Let me know if you do and I can change my post.

As Ashtail put Zanna's paw into a splint and bandaged it, Zanna began muttering about the stupid squirrel and big, heavy books. After the fox finished mending her arm, Zanna sat down by the fire and began to read Colonel Wolf. The beginning was simple tactics, pincer movements and coming at an enemy from behind. The further Zanna got into the book, the more complex the military strategies became. A particular page caught Zanna's eye. She grinned wickedly and closed the book...

Heh eh, nevermind, Rune is up for grabs.

Raylin had decided to volunteer to help up in the library, joining forces with Wally in the search for information. She frowned thoughtfully at Wally's idea. "Mm, maybe. But the Long Patrol wouldn't be able to show up immediately, and the vermin are right outside our door. How would we defend ourselves in the meantime? We might be able to send for the Long Patrol, but we also need to think of something we can do that can help right now."

She plunked a pile of books down on a table. Dust plumed up from the volumes and filled the air, making her cough. She glanced at the title of the book on top of the stack and saw that it was part of a series of books on the history of Redwall Abbey. "Huh, this might help," she muttered to herself, and started scanning the pages for information.

ooc: not at all.

Abbess Hannah had listened with interest to Brother Fred's plan. It was a reasonable course of action, if seemingly slow. Wally's exclamation greeted the Abbess and Brother Fred upon their finally entering the library. "Hello, Wally. Raylin. Now, Brother, be precise: what exactly did you have in mind for what to research? Is not the Long Patrol our best option here? Even with strategy, this Abbey is not of warriors."

The Abbess observed Raylin began to work through a selection of books. She recognized a few, from the numerous times she had ventured to the library. She was vaguely familiar with the book Raylin had just grabbed. Thinking that it was in fact the most useful of the books in that pile, she simply left the squirrel to her reading.

Skipper was digging pits behind the gates and filling them with spikes. To be sure that the vermin in the unfortunate event that they broke into the abbey grounds would fall into the pits he disguised them with a grid of twigs over the hole and leaves  over the twigs. He had made his way out of the main building by crawling under a table always keeping it over his head to protect himself from any stray vermin arrows. After completing his task he went back in  side to prepare his weapons for battle.

OOC: So it looks like Rune, is up for grabs! I'll post as her now but if anyone wants them, just hop in and take over. Here's her mini-bio: An almost dwarfish-sized fox who is also Zanna's seer and advisor. Starting out as a slave in Zanna's army, Rune has raised herself higher than the Zanna's captains on nothing but her wit and will to survive.

BIC: Rune had been waiting patiently for Zanna to call her forward all day. A brief seance had been done just the night before, in which Rune promised Zanna a grand victory of the red fortress. Though she did not show it, Rune breathed a sigh of relief at the discovery the fortress was not a fortress. It was an abbey!

Rune was beginning to think that Zanna had forgotten about her when she was called to Zanna. A captain, who was among the dullest and most idiotic creatures to achieve the position (according to Rune, that is), simply muttered to her, "Er, Miss Rune? Chief wants yer. I'm s'posed to take ye to 'er now."

The tiny fox obeyed, albeit begrudgingly. Nobody liked taking orders from a half-wit. The fox had a plan to get Zanna her victory, but it would involve a great deal of listening and figuring out what the warlord would likely do anyway...


Wally had an answer ready for the question of the Long Patrol. "Well, we just gotta bribe a bird to take it to Salamandastron for us. Then we'd only have to hold the baddies off for a little bit before help arrives." Even still, the mouse knew this would be difficult and take too long. "Journey from here to Salamandastron 'll take quite a while. And there's no guarantee the bird we hire will follow through unless we hire a lot of them... Hey, wait a minute! What do we need the Long Patrol for? I swear I read something earlier and marked it that mentions something of Mossflower Defenders! They were a group of peacekeepers that relied on guerrilla tactics to get the job done. If they're still around, maybe we could find them. Or if not, perhaps we could try some guerrilla tactics of our own?"

Looking about the room, there would certainly be a lot of talking. The question to answer was this: would there be enough time?

Zanna waited impatiently for the Captain she had sent to fetch Rune. She set the book aside and looked up as the tiny fox entered the campfire area. Zanna, with a wicked smile, gestured for Rune to sit down. "So, my seer, what would you suggest I do?"  She leaned back and bit into a cooked bird that some hunters had killed in the forest.

Rune already felt a familiar uneasiness around Zanna. She was a scary beast. Keeping her cool about her, Rune closed her eyes.

"The answer to your victory lies within..."

Zanna did not sound amused by the snorted reply that came to her. So Rune continued.

"Your paw was stunned when the fool on the walltop threw something at you. What was it?"

Zanna replied that it was a book.

"And what lies within the book?"

These were all things that Zanna could figure out for herself, so she berated the seer to tell something she did not know.

"Very well, master. Please, I require a piece - however small - of the abbey you seek to conquer. A single chip of a single one of its bricks in the wall will do just fine. I cannot proceed without it."

OOC: I'm also going to play a little bit as the rat that Zanna sent to investigate Redwall...

Shadow(Rat): Shadow approached the Abbey under cover of darkness. He began at the front gate and slowly made his way around to the Eastern side where he found...a small wicker gate in the wall. He began to fiddle with the lock, and it slid back after a moment. He eased his way into the courtyard of the Abbey. He slid into cover of a bush and began watching the Redwallers, how many troops they had, how they were armed, and many other things the Warlord would love to know.

Zanna: Zanna spat at the foot of Rune. "You're useless! I know everything you've told me!" But then, Rune mentioned something  interesting. Zanna prodded one of the guards with the handle of her flail. "You...go now, get me a piece of the red fortress, however small, just get a piece. Go!" she shouted at the guard who scurried out of camp toward Redwall.

Skipper agreed with Wally ''If there is help that could get here sooner then the Long Patrol we must attempt to seek them out. I will leave imeaditly to find them.'' Grabbing a map of Mossflower skipper set off across lawn. As he approached the wallgate and saw that it was open. Concerned Skip looked around and saw a rat barely visable behind a rose bush, he cried out ''Attack! The abbey's been breached, to arms!'' Skipper lunged forward and stabbed at the rat with his javelin.

Alarm bells tolled (in Wally's mind, at least). No sooner had Skipper left the room than did the cry of "attack" come out. Many creatures dashed towards the exits and out into the night air to see what the commotion was. A mismatch of makeshift weaponry was brandished by many creatures as they burst onto the scene. It did not take too long for a few creatures to take notice of where Skipper was and what situation he was in. Was he... fighting a rat?

Wally was there, too. Though not outside. Rather, he was brandishing a large book (he had rather taken to the idea of Abbess Hannah's weapon of choice... so long as it didn't contain military secrets) and keeping watch over the library. It was very doubtful anybeast would make it up there if an invasion were to occur. But just in case...

Rune snickered inwardly. only a few moments after the guard disappeared toward the abbey, all this commotion started happening. It was times like this that reminded Rune of her perceived, general incompetence of most of Zanna's horde. It was no wonder that Rune had worked her way up from a slave to the right paw of Mossflower's soon-to-be most powerful ruler.

Speaking of Mossflower's soon-to-be most powerful ruler, Zanna was up and in arms already. Rune did not get up, but assumed that the seance was officially over. At least until the commotion died down.

Shadow: Shadow thought he was well hidden, he was wrong. A burly otter leapt at him and yelled something about the Abbey being breached. The otter stabbed him in the shoulder and the rat whipped out his dagger and stabbed the otter in the upper leg. A small army from inside the Abbey seemed to appear as the two beasts were locked in a combat to the death.

Zanna: Zanna heard the commotion rise in the Abbey and growled. "Shadow must have been caught...stupid, stupid rat..."

When Raylin heard shouts about the abbey being breached, she dropped the book she was reading and dashed out the library door. She hurried down the stairs and out onto the lawn. She saw other abbeydwellers running out as well, brandishing different kinds of weapons. The squirrelmaid saw Skipper and a rat fighting on the other side of the lawn. She ran in that direction, taking out her sling and loading it with a few stones from her pouch as she went.

Raylin reached the site of the skirmish and halted, breathing heavily as she watched the otter and rat. She looked around, but didn't see any other vermin at present. Glancing over at the wallgate, she saw that, though closed, it was unlocked. She hurried over and locked it, then turned back towards the fight. She couldn't exactly get a shot in with her sling because Skipper was in the way, so she stood, watching, waiting, ready to launch a stone if the rat managed to get away and try to run.

Skipper winced when he was stabbed in the thigh. He spun to avoid shadow's next slash, feeling the blade whipping past where his head had been. Getting a idea skip leapt backwards over the pit he had dug. Shadow charged after skipper falling into the spike filled pits that were covered with dried grass. Skipper stepped back to allow Raylin a clear shot.

Shadow: The lithe otter flipped backward and Shadow rushed to pursue his quarry. As he was about to reach his foe, the ground gave out from under him. He fell into a pit of sharpened sticks and impaled his footpaw on one. He struggled to free himself. He spat at the otter, "Coward!" Shadow saw a squirrel with a sling aiming towards him. He struggled even more. His footpaw painfully began to come free.                                                                             

Seeing the dark-hued rat pulling his footpaw off the spikes skipper decided that he couldn't wait for Raylin to attack. Stepping forward skipper plunged his javelin deep into the rat killing him instantly. A second later skip heard a crack and felt a searing lance of pain spread from his cheek across his whole face, then he passed out. Inadvertently he had in his hurry to kill shadow he had stepped into the path of Raylin's slingstone.

OOC: I didn't actually say that Raylin had thrown the slingstone yet, but that's fine. I'll just go with it.

BIC:
Raylin gasped in shock as the slingstone collided into Skipper's head and he collapsed to the ground. She hadn't meant to hit Skip; she'd thought that she had a clear shot at the rat. She dropped her sling and ran over to where Skip lay on the ground. The rat was dead, Skip's spear protruding from his chest, his face frozen in a pained expression, sightless eyes staring ahead blankly. Raylin averted her eyes from the gruesome sight and crouched down next to Skipper. Blood oozed from a gash on his head where the stone had hit him.

The squirrelmaid looked up at the crowd of creatures gathered around. "Somebeast get help! We need the Infirmary Keeper!"

Hannah was hurrying across the Abbey grounds, a couple stout otters in front of her. Over most of the day, the two otters had been patrolling the grounds, and ferrying any messages that needed to be communicated. Now, the two quickly aligned themselves both sides of Skipper, one asking the chieftain if he was all right after the impact. Hannah, two small books in hand, stood alongside Raylin, as other Abbeybeasts on the walls called down as to the nature of the commotion. 

OOC: I just realized I've been calling the Abbess a squirrel, but she actually a mouse, my mistake!

BIC: The guard that Zanna had sent to retrieve some Abbey stone bustled back into camp, cradling a brick-sized piece of stone carefully. Zanna, sensing that the fight within the walls had stopped, sat back down on a log across from Rune. The guard ran into the circle of light cast by the fire. He gently set the stone down on the log next to Zanna before bowing nervously and walking out. Zanna unceremoniously tossed it at Rune across the fire and waited for the seer to do something.

OOC: BIG POOOOOOST ;D

BIC:

Wally finally relieved himself of the (admittedly ridiculous) self-appointed job of guarding the library. Mostly because the young mouse's attention could not help but shift from where he was to all the commotion outside. Keeping his book with him, Wally began making his way down to the abbey grounds, though in an overly-cautious fashion. He was very clearly paranoid that someone had infiltrated the abbey and would undoubtedly kill him if they got the chance... but it didn't happen. The halls of Redwall were just as devoid of vermin as any other time that season.

Finally making it out onto the grounds, Wally saw creatures begin to file back inside. Skipper was being carried in on a stretcher of sorts and looked to be in rough shape. The action had already come and gone. Wally asked a passerby what had happened. They explained the struggle between Skipper and Shadow, and how a bit of confusion in the darkness had Raylin throwing the rock in her sling and it hitting Skipper. Apparently, some creature had really just snuck in through one of the side gates. Wally was taken aback. How could they have been so stupid to rely on the wicker gate's single padlock for security? "Unbelievable. Is Skipp gonna live?" asked Wally to the passerby.

"I don't know, little one. I certainly hope he pulls through, though. For the abbey's sake. This war will tear us to shreds if we're not careful!"

"Do you know where the foremole is? I've read a few ideas that might help the effort. A good deal of them, actually!"

The passerby pointed over to the wicker gate and Wally took off, holding the book to his chest. When he found foremole, he and his crew seemed to be trying to figure out the best way to reinforce the gates. Wally was a young mouse, but the expression on his face seemed to speak for itself, even in the lantern light of creatures surrounding the gate (of course, being mindful of the hole in the ground. "Excuse me foremole, may I make a suggestion?" It took a little bit of time but eventually the foremole's attention was obtained, and with it the rest of his digging crew. Wally was a little intimidated to have so many beasts staring at him. "Erm, what if - ah, that is... I think I have a way to reinforce the gate that doesn't involve as much effort as maintaining a trap that would only work once the abbey has already been broken into." a dozen pairs of mole eyebrows rose up. Wally continued, now more confident. "Seasons and seasons back, the creatures who lived here were concerned about the same thing - it's all right here in this collection of abbey wartime I'm piecing together. Er, rather it's upstairs in the library. This right here is just a set of records with nothing terribly useful... Er, anyway, the creatures of the abbey managed to keep the gates reinforced by blocking them in with great heaps of each. Dirt, rocks, leaves, mud, the works! It kept anybeast who was trying to get inside with a battering ram from making any progress at all, and burning the gate would only leave the invaders faced with something even harder to get through than what was at the start! So... what do you think? It worked for them. Why not us?"

Rune was a bit surprised at how Zanna simply dismissed the commotion over at the abbey. She must have really been interested in what was happening. The little fox regathered her thoughts. Taking the big brick, she smacked it on a rock until a paw-sized chunk broke off. That would do just fine...

"Very well. Now I have everything that I need to make contact with the spirit world. This is something you have seen me do before, master. If we truly want to meet the spirits, silence is required... You there! Throw wood on this fire, snap to it!... Now then, master, let us begin..."

Rune took out a bag of seemingly random items: glass, wooden beads, a bone fragment of a bat's wing, a dried and hardened toad's eye, a peculiar twig that resembled the shape of a tiny paw and had been polished. Each item seemed to be increasingly stranger than the previous. After examining each piece, Rune reached into her cloak and grabbed a pawful of dust. With a nod to Zanna through the fire, she threw the dust into the fire and watched as green flames pounced upward in a flash. Quickly, Rune gathered all of the contents of her bag, save for the piece of red sandstone, and shook them violently in her paws. "Ooooooh, ooooooh, oooooh, spirit realm, hear the request of that which is still bound by flesh to speak with you. I come at the request of Zanna Crowely, the most powerful fleshed beast on this earth, in search of your council. Make your selves known to me, the door between your world and this one, so that I might communicate what the future holds for my master!"

Rune bowed her head momentarily, then began to shake. When she raised her head, she spoke in a voice that did not sound like her own. It was much deeper, raspy and strained. "You, Zanna Crowely! You are to finish what we could not. I know now how to conquer the abbey. Take but a single creature from within those walls and threaten those inside with it. Those creatures value life above all and will surrender the abbey quickly if you do so." Rune coughed. It sounded like she was a creature on their deathbed.

When she started speaking again, the voice was higher and trill, "Krakah! You will take the redstone house, Zanna Crowely! Do it for all of us who could not. And when they ask how you did it, karkaaah, tell them the spirit of General Ironbeak flies with you!"

"EEERRRAAAAGH! Redwall will fall. Kill! Kill! Challenge a beast to single armed-combat. Kill them and spill their blood. I can see your skill - you will not be killed. Kill for Gulo! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Yet another voice spoke up, "I had that abbey conquered! Beware the mouse in armour. He is a threat which should be dealt with as soon as possible. My hordes used to chant the name of Cluny the Scourge. Now I hear them curse me from the gates of hell!"

Rune blinked a few times. It seemed to be over. Zanna asked why she had stopped communicating and Rune explained, "A mortal spirit can only stay in the spirit world for so long. As time goes on, more and more strength is needed to keep the door open. Each spirit that was heard was more powerful than the last. I would listen to each of them. They know of the abbey well. I believe each of them was once..." Rune trailed off without warning and grabbed her head. "Something does not feel right." she said.

Zanna was perplexed. "What is it? Is it a spirit?" after not getting a response from Rune, Zanna persisted, ignoring the formalities of her proper place as leader of the horde. "How will a bunch of dead creatures accomplish anything? They're all dead for a reason!"

Rune shook her head, as if to try to shake whatever it was off of her. "I feel strange. Like I am being pulled back by something." Rune reached down to collect her tokens. When she placed a paw on the piece of red sandstone, a powerful voice ripped from her chest, "You, who claims to be mighty enough to take Redwall, who says that I am dead? Your pride and selfishness will place you in the same grave as all the other villains who tried to take my abbey. Know this, vermin: I am Martin the Warrior, and I am a force to be reckoned with. For you cannot escape me so long as you are near this abbey. I will haunt your dreams and give you no sleep. I will influence those around you to turn on one another and watch your forces crumple beneath you. If you try to breach the haven's walls, you will be well met by the sword that lives on through five. Leave here while you still have your life or die as you have lived, a coward to the last!"

Rune's eyes shut, the voice left her and she collapsed on the ground, still as a corpse.

Zanna stood up abruptly and prodded the seer with her footpaw. A twitch was all Zanna needed to make sure the fox was still alive. Sure enough, she moved. Zanna walked out of the firelight and grabbed a horn from a nearby guard. She walked to the front of the camp and blew three, short, harsh blasts. The vermin knew the signal well.

Within a few moments, the entire horde was assembled in front of her. Zanna strode through the ranks and pointed to certain beasts. By the time she had finished, she had half-a-score of vermin singled out from the rest. "Your task," she told the group, "is to breach the Abbey. Your purpose is simple, take hostages. As many as you can get, or even as few as a single beast. It matters not. Do not kill, plunder, pillage, or burn. Simply take hostages and get out of the Abbey as quickly and quietly as possible. Try to gain entry at the rear and sides of the Abbey."

"The rest of you!" Zanna called as she turned to address the rest of the horde," We will provide a distraction. A show of force, perhaps. We will assemble at the front of the Abbey and be as loud as possible. Fire arrows, bang on the gates, anything! Simply make sure everybeast is focused on the main gates!"

A few moments later, the entire horde (with the exception of those ten) was assembled a mere few feet from the front gates and walls. The noise was uproarious. The vermin chanted, "Zanna! Zanna! ZANNA! Kill, pillage, plunder!" Archers sent volleys of flaming arrows over the wall, panic ensued within.

The others had each been issued a rope with a large metal hook and a small knife meant for close quarters, along with whatever other weaponry they carried. Across the rear and side walls, grappling hooks were sent flying into the night and latched onto the battlements with a dull 'clang.' The vermin, comprised of 3 weasels, 4 ferrets, and 3 rats, pulled their ways up the walls, before lithely leaping inside the Abbey.

The vermin grabbed beasts standing along the battlements. They took one squirrel, one otter, and two mice. One vermin was killed trying to subdue the otter. They carried their prisoners over the walls and exited as quietly as they had entered.

OOC: Would anyone like to play a hostage?

Raylin and a bunch of other abbeydwellers were assembled on the North wall. The vermin horde was in front of the Abbey, standing there, chanting. Flaming arrows flew over the wall, and Raylin ducked as a shaft whistled past her head, burying itself in the ground below. She peeked over the battlements, singled out a random rat in the horde, and launched a stone from her sling at him. It missed and hit the ground instead. Frustrated, the squirrel tried again, grinning triumphantly when it struck her target. The rat collapsed to the ground.

Raylin made quick work of another rat and a ferret. As she was reloading her sling, however, she heard a commotion over on another wall. Her eyes widened as she made out the figures of several vermin. Shadows flickered on the wall on which they stood, cast by the flaming arrows that flew through the night sky. A few of the vermin had abbeydwellers thrown across their shoulders. They climbed over the edge of the battlements and started down several ropes, even as Raylin cried out in alarm. She ran towards where they had climbed down, but by the time she got there it was too late. All there was was a vermin corpse lying there. At least they hadn't gotten away without casualties. Her eyes searched the edge of the forest next to the Abbey, but to no avail. There was no sign of them.

She turned and ran back to the main group on the wall, yelling out as she went, "They've captured several creatures! The vermin snuck in and captured them!" She searched the crowd until she found the Abbess. "What do we do?"

OOC: Just to make sure everyone knows-- we are able to continue posting in this RP after the extravaganza is over.

The Abbess was about to reply to the squirrelmaid when the young hedgehog standing to Hannah's right fell to his side, clutching his forehead. A stone bounced away into the dark. Hannah grabbed the hedgehog by his arms and assisted him to a seat along the parapet. As she did this, Hannah took stock of the situation. There were enough Abbeybeasts along the four sides to note, with some degree of expediency, any further grappling hooks. Raylin shouted over the commotion, gesturing to the Abbess as she asked for direction. Between the hedgehog gasping for breath and the humid air, the Abbess felt impatient and annoyed. However, once the hedgehog was under the care of a molewife, Hannah delicately maneuvered over to Raylin.

She had manged to hear the squirrelmaid's question, and was thinking. To her right, two mice were awkwardly carrying the dead vermin to the Abbey grounds. Hannah watched them nearly tumble downwards, only for the otter Arrap to hastily steady the shorter mouse. Hannah had seen enough of the commotion to identify a couple of the missing Abbeydwellers, among them Arrap's husband. Almost certainly, Arrap already knew of her husband's loss, as the names of the taken were being mouthed by a few creatures milling about. The plot afoot was also fairly obvious to most. That, the Abbess thought, could at least be expected by this defense force. It was disorderly, Hannah knew, running the state of the defense through her mind once again. Even after a few forays and casualties, it was still so easy for her to spot a mouse who had no business walking as carelessly as he did, or a squirrel who looked dangerously over a parapet too often. Too many Abbeybeasts were in one area at one moment, and then too few somewhere else. If not for a clever few, the Abbey would be in all likelihood in even more precipitous danger. And for all that, not even a war council for consistent strategizing. It would get better, slowly, as long as the enemy didn't get lucky, or too sneaky. What comfort, Hannah thought. As far as the enemy went, they seemed very concentrated in their plans to the west and north walls. The southern forest fringe was in the Abbess' view, and hung remarkably close to the walls. Wally and the moles' construction work pattered onwards within her sight. After a few moments, Raylin repeated her question, and it was with a pained look that the Abbess turned to the energetic squirrel. It would be replaced by determination a second later.

"How would you feel about a night raid of our own?"

After Zanna saw that her plan had been successful, she sounded the same three short blasts and the army trudged back to the camp. The vermin cheered and taunted the captives being prodded at spear point. The otter was particularly vicious. He kicked out at a vermin and managed to knock a weasel out, despite his hand being bound. The hostages were all put in the center of the camp, right next to the large fire. Zanna herself sat and watched them, along with two score of vermin all armed and ready to defend their captives. The horde leader continued the raid a success. She had lost a mere four beasts. This was nothing compared to her army of many hundreds strong. Zanna looked around for Rune, she needed to talk to the fox about the next step of the siege.

Raylin grinned darkly. "Let's do it." The vermin wouldn't get away with this for long. They had threatened the safety of the Abbey and those within, and now they had captured several of their own. They would pay. She looked around at the creatures gathered. "We'll need a small group of creatures to sneak into the vermin camp and free the others. Any volunteers?"

Zanna collapsed onto a log an sighed contentedly. Her plan had worked. She had captives and the souls of the former war leaders were with her. The captives were in the center of camp, tied around a large boulder and held under guard. "So," Zanna said," how many able bodied troops do you have in that fancy Abbey o' yours?"

Wally cautioned Raylin. "Hold on, there! We can't just waltz in and snag a few creatures just like that! I'm surprised they were able to get by us so sneakily. Next time we'll be prepared. I've sent a few pages through the council to review. It involves sectioned areas of watches - that is, nobeast leaves their watch, even if battle is happening elsewhere. The watch is to sound the alarm, not do the fighting. It also had ideas for breaking glass panes on the walltops. I'm not so sure about this one - I'll leave it up to Abbess Hannah and them - but it could give those nasty beasts quite the surprise should they hop over the wall when we least suspect it. Most of those vermin are bare-pawed!

"Now, as for getting our beasts back, what is to be proposed? They have leverage now and that's dangerous!"

Rune was summoned to Zanna Crowely's side. Patiently, she waited whilst the interrogation went on. She strained her ears to hear it but only caught snippets.

OOC: Is somebody playing as captives? Do we have any info on that?