Surveying the Wall (Open)

[Roland Moonstar]

OOC: First cycle of Ponutis, just after Medaerus arrives

IC:
Roland took Medaerus, Ty, Looie, and anyone who wanted to come along, and he started a grand circuit of the walls of Paxia. He knew a little something about walls and gates, and the soldiers who manned them, as he had spent an era in Carmelyn Province tinkering and reinforcing with gates and gate guards there. Diana, Archadoon, and various other cities all had his stamp on them. Now it was Paxia's turn, and Paxia needed it the most.

Because Paxia had been attacked and over-run, and Roland wanted to make sure that this never happened again. In a choice between swords and butter, Roland would rather give Paxia swords. The people could eat cold fish three times a day if they had to, and they'd live, but they wouldn't live if an orc was chopping their heads off.

So now he made a clockwise circuit around the wall, starting at Jasper's post.
He made one loop to do nothing but get his bearings and make sure he was acquainted with local landmarks, and with turns and corners in the walls.

Then he made a second pass, candlemarks later, visually inspecting the wall and guardposts for damages. This was a rapid run-through, merely to get a general assessment of the damages-- he did not want to waste time with a small hole a few yards east of the gate if the entire southern wall was missing-- and so he rode around at a gallop, pausing only to make notes in his journal in the most general terms.

Then he stabled Dannyboy and did a much longer inspection on foot, allocating the better part of the next brightening for this. Here he brought along his yardstick and ruler, and whatever masons and carpenters he could find, to get expert opinions.

[Medaerus]

2nd-ish of Pontius

Medaerus met Roland at the gate that brightening, ready for some carpentry experience. After all, carpentry was a series of failures and triumphs through practice and experience.

Eyeing the chips and gaps in the fortifications, Medaerus's eyes calculated what had to be done in the walls to render them useful. He would most likely need to speak with Arsenios, who he hadn't met much yet.

"What are you thinking, Roland? Have you spoken with Arsenios yet?" The elf turned to his cousin, his white hair blowing softly in the wind. He had brought his carpentry tools with him and they hung limply in a satchel that they had came in originally at his side.

[Roland Moonstar]

'Indeed I have. He has given me a list of materials needed to expand his operation. As soon as I have met with Gena'ra to review the budget, I will see about procuring us everything we need.

I realize you don't have all the lumber you need right now. Simply come along, so you can do a visual inspection with me this first time through. Take note of what you think will be needed. I'll do the same, and we'll compare notes."

He looked around. "We'll wait around a minute to see if anyone else wants to come along, then we'll set off."

[Alexis Sapientia]

Cencoris Jeffrey Beams was an observant man; that having been received after a period of serving aboard the Empire's ships. One couldn't not be observant aboard ship; nature had a wonderful sense of timing. The ocean goddess could hurl a thunderbolt his way, or cause a sea monster to appear and snuff out a few lives when the sailors weren't looking.

As a result of this, he was standing with an amused smile as he earlier regarded the self-proclaimed Lord Protector circling the rounds of his domain--covering an area known as a riding--being very much the hands on city officile that Paxia deserved.

Holding a swagger-stick behind his back, he detailed a navit and a marine from a nearby work-party, and surrepititiously approached the eminent Roland Moonstar.

"Greetings, sirs." proclaimed he with typical clipped marinese, lips smiling with eyes betraying but a hint of glint.

"A good brightening, is it not? Good brightening for a walk. Mind if we join you?"

[Halftpint Naddas]

Tiny feet pitter pattered towards the group. A cloaked cether bounded past broken bricks and glass as he made his way to meet up with Roland and the group. His curly hair was still stuck on his head from his latest nap. He met them all with a brisk nod.

"Serale, Halftpint Naddas. Lord Protector, everyone else..." He introduced himself. He pulled some parchment and a pencil from his pockets. "I know shorthand, you don't mind if I take notes Lord Protector?" He asked.

He also made a little conversation with the other attendees-

"You a carpenter buddy?" Halftpint asked the elf. "My brother was one, really talented. You build much stuff? I was sorta looking into establishing a construction firm..."

And to the Naval officer-

"Ever think that it might be easier if there was a fleet of ships that floated upon the air? Wouldn't that be fantastic?!"

[Roland Moonstar]

Roland nodded at the last comment. "If such a concept interests you, Halfpint, then come with me the next time I visit Mileswick. You can see the remains of a great airship Tower." He sighed wistfully. "When the Elric brothers (or whomever) smashed the Aethergem, a certain sort of magic propulsion was lost forever. Perhaps someday we'll discover another.

The ruins of that Tower would be the place to start, so you can see what has come before."

He instructed Looie to give Halfpint the clipboard. As the Lutran favored anyone around his own height, he was more than happy to help out the Cether.

Roland looked over at the assembled party. He had met Beams when he met Heyward, and the Cencoris here seemed an observant and capable man. "We can use the extra pair of eyes. I am looking for structural damage, yes, but I am also open to ideas and suggestions of how to improve particular areas of the wall so this sort of thing doesn't happen again.

I don't relish turning Paxia into a fortress city like Taralon, but the safety and security of the people here is my paramount concern. We have a Governor that makes Pescado Branch look like the hero of Port Alyxandria, and Admiral Sapienta can't afford to tie up so many ships forever. The gods help those who help themselves, and I wouldn't expect either the provincials or Imperials to help us if we're not willing to dig in, reinforce, and fortify what we have."

Roland went into a bit more detail as to what he was doing and why, elaborating on his desire to build a moat, guard-houses, towers and anything else the budget of Paxia could afford, and he pretty much did everything but flat-out ask for a couple of medieval sea-bees to accompany the survey party. He gave Beams time to decide who else was needed, in the way of engineers and surveyors.

[Medaerus]

Medaerus eyed the halfling with interest. He had never run into one of these fellows before. The elf had to bend down his head to look the cether in the eyes. Feeling slightly sorry for him, Medaerus slumped his shoulders a bit and bent his knees enough that nobody would notice but it would make him appear slightly shorter.

"Yes, I know the basics of carpentry to the extent of house building, but am no extravagant constructor."

"A firm? Sounds intriguing. Although I am am not a business man, I would be willing to learn a thing or two of the art. What sort of thing did you have in mind?"

[Roland Moonstar]

Roland glanced at Beams, waiting to see how the man answered Halfpint and Medaerus.

He excused himself for a moment to let them talk, as he saw another figure or two in the distance he recognized, and wanted to have journey with them. "All right, we're almost set. Just waiting on Corgan, his female elf companion, and Gorgon the giant."

[Alexis Sapientia]

The halfpint-sized fellow's discussion on floating airships gave the marine noncom a smile.

"Cencoris Jeffrey Beams, a pleasure to meet you." He even saluted the fellow with gloved hands strapping his swagger-stick to his right eyebrow, before securing the same behind his back, for know other reason than the fact that he was an Imperial Marine, born and bred.

"To my knowledge, that happened long before, in the Reign of the Madman or prior to that. This was in the age when Zythinar was the Imperial Admiral. I'm told of quite the explosion regarding a secret experiment just across the harbor here, at Solace Isle, though it must have happened a long time ago. Can't say more, sorry. State secret." Nodded he in acknowledgement to the emiment former Justiciar's comment.

"I thank you, sir, for your consideration, and we will, too, see where we can best redirect our efforts best. We have the men, and soon, we may very well have the materials. What we cannot beg, borrow, or purchase locally we can either ship from Solace Isle or requisition from Archadoon."

Thus did he begin dictating orders, to which the navit began writing down on stylus and a wax tablet.

"We've few personnel with the building knowledge, as well as surveyors," shrugged he, "...but we'll see what can be done on the next dispatch we send to Prime."

At that, a rare smile for one in his vocation.

"Any other news you may wish to impart to the Imperial Admiralty, perhaps, or the Ministry of War?"

[Striker]

From the east, the unmistakable behemoth form of Paxia’s philanthropic giant could be seen. Covering multiple meters at a time with every lengthy stride, he seemed to stalk across the mounds of rubble and wreckage without a care in the world. Nearly thirteen feet tall, the immense humanoid’s considerable carriage matched his impressive height. Unlike the warriors of his breed, Gorgon was only decently muscled. Patterns of residency in Paxia had slimmed him down, and he had discovered that being of an intellectual mind held certain advantages that did not necessitate using only brawn to make a living –not to say that he didn’t possess any.

Lumbering over to Roland, Medaerus, Halfpint, and Jeffrey Beams, the balding giant wore a toothy grin as he maneuvered a heavy wooden plank –his weapon- from one shoulder to the other. Adjusting his wool-woven trousers, the large humanoid came to a standstill before the group, towering over them and staring downwards. “Sorry for being late.” the surprisingly sophisticated creature said, “Took them awhile…” He explained, jabbing a stubby finger to two other forms that had trailed in his wake.

Corgan and Vilya were the last to join the party. The former, an incredibly muscled Rhargn, was not without his ever-present smile as he nodded to the Lord Protector, Halfpint, and Medaerus, all of whom he had met earlier in the season when Roland had addressed the citizens of Paxia. “Was her fault…really…” the light-hearted barbarian jested, and his words elicited a deep scowl along the half-elfin woman’s delicate features.

“Shut up, Corgan. You were the one insisting on that last chicken leg!” she scolded in irritation. Rolling her piercing blue eyes momentarily, she flushed in embarrassment as she looked to Medaerus and then to Roland. “Excuse us.” She apologized, lowering her gaze to the floor before glancing upwards again. “We already took the liberty of scanning the perimeter of the walls before we came, making sure that we wouldn’t encounter any unexpected surprises. It doesn’t look like there has been any orcish activity on the outskirts, but it is better to be cautious than sorry.” She explained, and as if to accentuate her point, she rested a pale slender hand upon the pommel of her sword.

Corgan, still grinning stupidly, nodded in accord. The giant man stared down to Halfpint, winking to the Halfling once before folding his muscular and veined arms across his barreled chest. “And who do we have here, Lord Protector?” He asked, glancing to the marine.

[Keldon Elsdragon]

OOC: Unfortunately I will be unable to attend this meeting due to a change in timestamps for a vital thread in prime.

Secrets : About thirty six, to forty meets up from where Roland and his party was Keldon and a small group of Imperial troops and several naval officers were walking the walls. Several of them were discussing with Keldon about specific locations of fortifications. "Sir, if a wall runs from the north through here there is a better chance of boxing any attacking force in at this location with archer fire,." the man wearing a Daekin's uniform stated. However he was quickly cut off by a naval officer. "That would be correct Daekin, however you also need to keep in mind for that to work we would need to construct walls enclosing the area to create a trap." he said with a gentle smirk however went silent when Keldon turned. Raising his hand to his chin he pondered. "Yes, however would not taking the gates to the next district in the corner of the walls, and then slant the walls outwards so they do not meet at a ninety degree angle. It would force any aggressive force into a bottle neck on either side, less men would be required to defend a gatehouse that way..." he said thinking. "Perhaps perfect angles on the walls should not be used, but rounded edges and specific meeting points to make choke holds and allow us to force our enemy's into specific locations..." both men smirked and nodded then followed Keldon as they rounded a large hunk of downed wall. The Senior Legionnaire following behind taking notes. "Sir, perhaps we should also design the city to accept weapons fire from the sea..." the naval Cencoris stated but was silenced when the army officer stated. "Bloody hell that would be marvailis! I can imagine it now! Archers on the walls, men at arms standing ready to attack... the enemy moving forward thinking they will be victorious.... and then explosions happening all around them... would confuse the hell of out me" He said with a chuckle which Keldon and all present returned. "Yes, make note of that... it worked rather well... although we would need to have the navy practice as the last time I used that tactic it turned hunks of the Rainbow Citadel to ruins during the withdrawal..." he said with a sigh and moved forward and then noticed a fair sized group of people in the distance. Almost as if they were reviewing the remains of the city and it made the Surveyor-General curious. Making his way in there direction the small entourage followed behind Keldon. Four marines and Legionaries came out from behind a wall revealing that Keldon has escort with him should they run into any remaining orcs wondering Paxia. The face of Roland was recognized almost instantly, with the grief that posed to Keldon from the mans release of his questionable Herald release about the Legion of Justice sometime ago made him wonder if the red wine the man found so fond got the best of him. There was definitely a slight distaste towards him for the headaches that came with the selection of a leading body for the legion, and the disappointment of the leaderships failures. "Serale Gentlemen, milady." he said with a smile. Tilting his head to the women. The two officers with him did not nod they just stood there waiting for direction or something to catch there eyes.

[Roland Moonstar]

..Now he made a clockwise circuit around the wall, starting at Jasper's post.
He made one loop to do nothing but get his bearings and make sure he was acquainted with local landmarks, and with turns and corners in the walls.

Then he made a second pass, candlemarks later, visually inspecting the wall and guardposts for damages. This was a rapid run-through, merely to get a general assessment of the damages-- he did not want to waste time with a small hole a few yards east of the gate if the entire southern wall was missing-- and so he rode around at a gallop, pausing only to make notes in his journal in the most general terms.

Then he stabled Dannyboy and did a much longer inspection on foot, allocating the better part of the next brightening for this. Here he brought along his yardstick and ruler, and whatever masons and carpenters he could find, to get expert opinions.

In preparation for this third, much lengthier pass around the walls, Roland gave everyone time to meet and greet one another. He did not know if Beams knew the rest. He introduced Gorgon the giant, and the human mercenaries and Corgan and Vilya. To those who hadn't already met Keldon, he introduced him, and for those who did not know Medaerus and Halfpint, he introduced him. He attempted to keep it both civil and affable, and he made as quick a work of it as possible.

Once that was out of the way, Roland gestured at the walls. "All right, I think we all are here for the same purpose. Between the orcs, the fire, and the battles, our forces have been severely depleted, and our walls are not what they once were.

Many of you have been to Taralon. Others have been to Midpoint. If Paxia is such a valuable jewel of the Empire, with a trade-route that stretches from Arakmat to Prime, then we must do all in our power to make sure that it never gets attacked again."

He took a clipboard from Halfpint, made some notes, and handed it back to the Cether. "Time is of the essence, as we have no idea if there are others out there who desire to finish off what the orcs have started. Provost, as you were Equite here during the attack, you are most cognizant of what defenses failed. Please keep a specific eye out for places that were breached or proved otherwise inadequate.

I don't care if we end up with walls only Gorgon and Atlus can see out of. We are not going to let this happen again. Not now, not in the future." He gestured to the giant. [b] "Gorgon, please scan the top of the wall for any cracks not evident at ground level. Prefect Lotholdt, check the bottom of the wall where the wall meets the ground, for any similar damage not evident at human eye-level."

He turned and gave Medaerus particular instructions. (OOC: I'll edit something in once his wrist is healed IRL). Roland did not involve himself in the side conversations Beams was having with his men, or Keldon with his men. Halfpint already knew his job, to record the opinions and observations of the others.

Corgan and Vilya were instructed to play point and rear, keeping a particular eye out for orcs and others who might desire to sabotage their efforts. "All right, let's head out."

[Striker]

The devastation that had become Paxia encompassed the entire city. What had once been a magnificent perimeter crafted by some of the finest handymen in Telath had been reduced to an amalgamation of wood, metal, and rubble. There was dust everywhere, and each stride of the surveyors elicited a cloud of debris that suspended in the air, lingering long enough for those behind to be caught amidst the haze of dirt and grainy earth. Luckily, though, Gorgon’s hulking silhouette was not difficult to discern even amidst the screen of dust kicked up from his every stride.

Walking purposely beside the Lord Protector, the massive Corgan cradled his axe fondly in his broad, muscular arms. Although that trademark smile of his was spread widely across his face, there was a sense of alertness in the barbarian man’s every gait. Whether or not he had chosen to accompany Roland within such a close proximity was a matter left to be discerned by Paxia’s prospective hero, but it was quite clear that the large man had no intention of allowing any orcs anywhere near the Patron of House Moonstar anytime soon.

“We’re gonna need walls again, Lord Protector, huge walls if we’re to avoid this problem again.” as if to illustrate his point, the barbarian swept his arm in a wide arc above his head. Nodding occasionally to himself, Corgan’s eyes drifted to the mountains of rubble that formed the first line of defense of Paxia. “If we could somehow rebuild them higher than before, thicker than before, and station ramparts along the top, we could actually turn this place defensible both from the inside and the outside.” Beaming magnificently at the thought, the barbarian glanced to Roland to witness his reaction to such a proposal.

Indeed, Corgan’s assessment was an accurate one. The former walls of Paxia had been so heavily damaged by both orcish and Nexus Prime forces alike that they were merely shadows of their former selves. The southern gates, otherwise known as the Winged Gates, had become nothing more than a porous stretch of rock snaking around the southern portion of Paxia. Of all the defenses of the city, the previous entrance had been damaged the most. Not only would it require skillful hands to rebuild the southern gates, but completely new materials would be needed as well.

As the entourage steered westward, Roland and the others would note that the walls bordering the vineyards, although permeable through a multitude of holes, nevertheless remained standing to some degree. There were scorch marks discernible on the barrier subsequent of the fireballs unleashed by the humans during their retaliation against the orcs, but the fires had not completely obliterated Paxia’s sturdily enforced gates. Still, the problem lay in the fact that because the groundwork of the walls had been compromised, there was no possible way that the western defenses could possibly sustain even a fraction of the damage that it already had.

It was here that Gorgon paused to enable the Lord Protector and the others to discourse.

“This is going to have to be rebuilt as well, Mister Moonstar.” Vilya interrupted as she gestured for Roland to accompany her near the wall. Stepping across the fertile soil that Paxia had used for the vineyards, the dainty half-elf brushed part of the western wall. It still stood more than a couple humans high, but as her slender digit stroked the rock, Roland would notice that particles of the material began to strip away and tumble to the earth. “The fireballs…” Vilya explained, “…heated the soil. I’m not sure how much longer the western walls can last. And they certainly wouldn’t survive another attack.”

[Roland Moonstar]

Roland nodded. He excused himself for a moment-- perhaps he'd eaten some bad meat the night before, and wasn't feeling well-- and when he came back the better part of a candlemark later, the expedition was exactly where he left it. He wasn't sure whether to be disappointed at the lack of initiative, or if this was merely everyone being respectful to him and not wanting to step on his toes. He supposed it was a combination of the two: his desire to avoid the mistakes of Carmelyn Province meant that he was perhaps going a bit overboard in certain areas, as he never again wanted to get bogged down in useless debate and acrimonous discourse. He wanted everyone on the same page from beginning to end. But they needed to know they could breathe.

Not sure how to solve that particular dilemma, he tabled it for another day. He made notes of everything Corgan and Vilya said, then had everyone move along to the next wall. He did pause to agree with their assessment, however. "Yes, you are absolutely correct. We must take steps to ensure we have the best walls possible. That's why we're doing this: this information is going to go directly to Gena'ra and the architectcs, and then to the military engineers."

[Striker]

As the group consisting of the Lord Protector and his comrades continued to trail beside the snaking remnants of the western wall, they would notice that only intermittent portions of the sturdy construct remained on its ‘feet’. Unfortunately, though, these would serve little in the ways of defense as an enemy could easily circumvent these fortifications by going around the remaining parts to find various holes and flattened areas susceptible to pervasion.

Gorgon continued to lead the group through the area. As the vineyards stretched for miles at a time, it took over a candlemark before the party began to reach the northwestern most part of the city where the makeshift Falcon Legion Headquarters and its respective facilities were partially intact. Most of the ‘buildings’ barely stood, but dozens of figures could be seen either patrolling the area or returning from rounds throughout the city. There were not many of them, but it was clear that there was not a moment in their days when idleness was a possibility.

“Would you like to rest, Lord Protector, or move on?” Corgan casually asked as he glanced upwards to the two suns of Telath, both of which had already begun to lower from their zeniths. As the northern parts of Paxia were allegedly the most dangerous, the barbarian man was not necessarily sure that it would be completely safe to travel to the sea. Nevertheless, considering the adroitness of Roland’s party, they believed themselves still capable of continuing onwards if he so chose.