Hyrulian War--THE WAR ITSELF!!

[KirbyBoy2000]

A young man stood within the town of the Hylian Market. He wore simple clothes, grey pants with a blue tunic that draped over them slightly. At his side was a short sword, and at his feet a cucco. While he seemed fairly common in his appearance, he was actually a soldier for the army... Or he thought atleast. He sent a message, an offering of his services to the late General, but was unsure of if the message had been reached. Still; even if he was not recognized under the Hylian Army he would fight for it with all his strength.

Leaving the Market, he headed northeast, travelling as far to the Union Bridge, where many members of the Hylian Army stood. From atop the bridge, the village of Kakariko could be seen in the distance; armed Goron forces within it. Anger filled the Hylian at the thought; Kakariko, a small village that was mostly filled with those of the Hylian race, now taken by the Goron Army.

He could easily advance into the village and attack them; however what good would it lead to? He cannot fight off over a hundred men, and what would it accomplish other than invoking an attack from the Goron? It was not a decision he could make to throw war onto his own country, he would have to wait for the decision of others; either by the Prince to free the village, or of the Goron Leader to lead an assault onto Hylian lands. Either way, once a decision was made, he would fight with all of his might for the Hylian lands.

- - -

Travelling to Old Union Bridge. If the Hylian Army attacks or gets attacked I'll fight with them. Or any other action Boo might feel me more suitable to do I'll do it.

[Booyakasha]

First and foremost, the Freelancer After-Action Report--

Tazy Ten (Zora): Went to Flooded Pass, apparently to see the dead Bigocto. Still there.

Daos (Kokiri): Went to Lost Woods East. Still there.

Shadow_Kirby (Gorons): Lit a wildfire in Lost Woods East, causing the deaths of 15 Kokiri troops. Chased away by Daos. Current Location: Petrified Forest

Cucco_Demon (Gerudo): Creative looting in temples at The Colossus, earning 50 rupees for Gerudo. Still there

Saria Dragon (Zora): Thievery, mayhem, and murder a-plenty--fortunately, none directed against PCs (yet). Now spying on the Undead force at Frozen Heath. Current Location: Tundra Flats

KirbyBoy2000 (Hylians): Standing watch with Hylian force at Old Union Bridge.

Now...

HYRULIAN GAZETTE!!!
"I ut inimicos devorare!
Issue 3....................11-01-07

EXTRA!! Hylians Dissolve Treaty With Undead, Sign Treaty With Gorons!
EXTRA!! Kokiri Troops At Lost Woods West Experience Random Encounter With Small Neutral Party--A Cucco! It Clucks At Them Annoyingly, Then Scampers Off!
EXTRA!! Undead Troops At Dead Fields Experience Random Encounter With Small Friendly Party--A Lost Child! The Evil Skeleton Warriors Helpfully Point the Child in the Right Direction, and the Child Gives Them 20 Rupees as a Reward! Hot Dog!
EXTRA!! Wildfires Rage Through Lost Woods East, Killing 15 Kokiri Troops Before Burning Out!
EXTRA!! Sandstorm Springs up in Haunted Wasteland! (Totally Surprising!) Travel to or from Haunted Wasteland Impossible!
EXTRA!! Kakariko Village Overrun! Special Territory--Confers additional 20 rupee bonus per round!
EXTRA!! Old Corral Overrun! Special Territory--Confers one-time bonus of 30 resources!

Kokiri--+ 1 territory, + 10 troops, - 15 troops, - 40 rupees
FINANCES: 256 + (6/3)*100 = 456 rupees; 456 - 40 - 10 (FL fee) = 406 rupees
TERRITORIES: Kokiri Fortress 310, Lost Woods East 285, Lost Woods West 100, Skull Kids' Refuge 400, Deku Tree's Glade 50, Sacred Forest Meadow 50
RESOURCES: 120 + 20 (racial advantage) = 140

Undead--+ 1 territory, + 10 rupees
FINANCES: 166 + (6/3)*100 = 366 rupees; 366 + 10 = 376 rupees
TERRITORIES: Castle Burmunica 370, Ancient Kings 50, The Glacier 100, Dead Fields 40, Frozen Heath 50, Chill Swamp 10
RESOURCES: 110

Gorons--+ 3 territories, + 40 troops, - 160 rupees, + 20 rupees
FINANCES: 176 + (8/3)*100 + 20 = 462 rupees; 462 - 160 - 10 (FL fee) = 292 rupees
TERRITORIES: Goron Citadel 400, Death Mountain 50, Dodongo Cavern 50, Death Mountain Trail 160, Rivers of Stone 160, Kakariko Village 195, Sooted Wilds 195, High Pass 50
RESOURCES: 100

Gerudo--+ 3 territories, + 30 resources, + 50 rupees
FINANCES: 236 + (8/3)*100 + 50 = 552 rupees; 552 - 10 (FL fee) = 542 rupees
TERRITORIES: Gerudo Fortress 600, Haunted Wasteland 0, Desert Colossus 0, Chasm North 200, Chasm South 200, Red Rock Pass 0, Old Corral 0, Hyrule Field SW 200
RESOURCES: 110 + 30 = 140

Hylians--+ 2 territories, + 26 troops, - 100 rupees
FINANCES: 156 + (7/3)*100 = 389 rupees; 389 - 100 - 10 (FL fee) = 279 rupees
TERRITORIES: Castle Hylia 201, Temple of Time 0, Hylia Castle Town 100, Hylian Market 95, Guarded Path 750, Old Union Bridge 200, King's Highway North 5
RESOURCES: 100

Zora--+ 3 territories, + 50 troops, - 200 rupees
FINANCES: 250 + (8/3)*100 + 30 (racial advantage) = 546 rupees; 546 - 200 - 20 (FL fee) = 326 rupees
TERRITORIES: Zora's Domain 464, Jabu Jabu's Fountain 0, The Falls 0, Lake Hylia 100, Flooded Pass 100, Zora River 200, The Lake Shore 190, The Cursed Mere 200
RESOURCES: 100
---------------------------------------

Questions? Ask 'em here in the thread, or PM them to me. The next warmod update will be tomorrow night, right around this time--make sure you've posted by then, my ducklings.

[Microphone_Kirby]

My Official Move: Move from the Petrified Forest to Lon Lon Ranch to attempt to slow down or kill my enemies by building traps in Lon Lon Ranch, making it dangerous for my enemies to take.

__________________________________________________ __________

After completing my first mission and being chased out of the Lost Woods, I came across another mission from my General. He was concerned about the Gerudo attempting to take over Lon Lon Ranch and possible positional advantage. I needed to act quickly, as the General mentioned that The Gerudo were already nearby, ready to take over! I sprinted through The Tangle ignoring the strange vegitation and headed for Hyrule Field's North-East Side. The field's were vast indeed, and plenty of open space. Unfortunately, there were a lot of Gerudo at the South-West side of these fields too. I needed to go faster!!!

I manage to make it to Lon Lon Ranch, enjoying the green pastures and the mooing, signaling that I made it in time. I take a look at the Ranch's South-West side and get my first bit of good news; the Gerudo are tired and sleeping for the moment. This was my chance. I gathered my tools and created traps to attempt to prevent ANYONE from taking Lon Lon Ranch and maybe eliminate a bunch of them.

(Some Time Later...)

I managed to build traps making an assault on Lon Lon Ranch very dangerous. My enemies could strike here at any moment, and man do I have a surprise for them...

(Note: Goron's are safe from my traps...)

[I am nobody]

Movement:
10 troops from Frozen Heath to Abandoned Farm.
10 Troops from Frozen Heath to Tundra Flats.
30 troops from Castle Burmica to the Frozen Heath.

Resources:

Spend 180 rupees on 90 resources.

Troops:
Spend 120 rupees training 30 troops.

[Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds]

A ghostly voice awakened the resting dragon.

Melvanna, go quickly! There is trouble, you are needed.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she struggled to keep the warning in her mind. However, sleepiness made her lose fragments of the message, and soon, all she remembered was a feeling of foreboding.

Perhaps danger was stalking her now...

---

Huddled silently beneath her cloak of snow, the small blue dragon sighed and nibbled at her claws. She had placed her pipe a few feet away, also hidden, so that she would not be tempted to smoke and give away her location. With the bare light of pre-dawn, the Undead campsite had grown into a hive of activity with commands being shouted and supplies moved around constantly. To Melvanna, it all seemed to be useless milling. They hadn't appeared to achieve anything in the past hour.

Rubbing at her face, the dragon groaned very quietly with boredom. Unfortunately, she was also growing hungry and that made her irritable. Her eyes strayed towards her pipe and she wondered how irresponsible it would be for her to just have a small puff. Shuffling over, she scooped up her pipe and began shaking snow from its bowl...

Breaking into her thoughts was the sudden sound of alarm. The Undead army began running and gathering up their weapons with no coordination whatsoever, driven by an unidentified fear. Their low cries carried to Melvanna and she looked closer at the enemy.

Within their ranks, a fire glowed brightly. They had been warming themselves by it only moments before.

Now staggering through the fire was an absolutely massive creature. As it trampled over one of the fallen Undead, the dragon crept forward to investigate the disruption. Nearing, she was able to view the deadly creature in all its horror.

Standing many feet taller than the Undead, it had an unhealthy orange sheen to its skin. When it turned in Melvanna's direction, she saw it only had one huge eye bulging from its forehead under a tangle of dirty blonde hair.

The dragon scowled; there hadn't been any reports of a Hinox in years. It was believed that they had been living alone, far beyond the reaches of civilised races, or simply died off. However, here was one standing amidst a legion of the Undead army, clear as day.

The loincloth it wore was shabby and covered in filth, and even with its incredible size, it looked thin and undernourished. The Hinox grumbled to itself in a voice reminiscent of boulders grinding together. Melvanna braved the possibility of discovery to edge even closer and crouched low to the icy ground.

It took mere seconds for the explosion to wrack the camp.

The dragon barely registered what had happened as the shockwave pounded against her body. A great roar filled her ears and she added her screams to those of the Undead.

Fire cracked and hissed on the Undead's tents and bodies. Melvanna couldn't tell if any had been killed, but their abject terror was apparent. The Hinox rumbled out more rocky words in its primitive language and produced another blackened bomb, causing the Undead to scurry away as fast as they were able.

None stayed to fight.

Melvanna watched as the Hinox brought its large, weathered arm back beside his head and launched the bomb towards the fleeing creatures. They scattered away from the explosive, some even running back towards the Hinox, in greater fear of the bomb than the looming creature itself. Melvanna stored that knowledge away and began her retreat, hurriedly taking to the air as soon as she was far enough away not to gain anyone's attention.

She continued flying north-west until finding a sheltered area in the Peahat Plains. Resting for a moment, Melvanna produced her pipe and the bag of throwing bones. She mused over the Undead's fear and carefully drew the quartered circle to cast a reading. The wind carried her small wisps of smoke over the low grass and bushes and she nodded to herself at the divination. Looking around, the dragon realised she had no swift way of contacting the Zora and huffed in frustration. Standing, she stalked back and forth, blowing larger and larger plumes from her nostrils.

Unable to think of an adequate solution, she threw herself onto a pile of bushes in disgust.

Moments passed in silence, but then an angry tinkling sound dashed around Melvanna's head. She opened her eyes wide in surprise, watching as a tiny glowing ball of faerie swooped closer.

Then the solution struck her.

'You look delicious,' Melvanna purred at the faerie. It stopped mid-dive and fluttered before the dragon. 'If you don't want me to eat you, perhaps you can do me a service?'

The faerie buzzed in contempt. 'You wouldn't be able to catch me, silly!'

Melvanna lifted her lip in a sneer. She raised her hand slowly, stopping when it was level with the pinkish glowing ball. She cooled the air around the faerie and it began to flutter slower, lethargically. As it drifted lower and lower to the ground, it tinkled unhappily.

'Okay, I was wrong,' the faerie squeaked out. 'I'm sorry, won't you forgive me? I don't believe you would eat me, but I shall do as you ask anyway.'

Laughing quietly, the dragon nodded and allowed the air to warm back to its normal temperature. The faerie bobbed around in excitement, flying past Melvanna's head quickly.

'Thank you, little fae. I need you to bear an urgent message to Shul, the general of the Zora army. Tell him the Undead appear to have a debilitating fear of explosives, and perhaps he can exploit that weakness.'

The faerie tinkled in acknowledgment. 'I know exactly where he is! My cousin saw him just the other day, and her cousin had overheard that the Gerudo were fighting with the Zora! Fancy that! The Gerudo, now they're a brutal bunch. But I suppose, in this awful time, they are the best race to be aligned with! Too bad they're walking right into the Goron's trap at the Ranch, hey? Well, I will deliver your message swiftly, lady-dragon! Be well! Try not to crush any of my bushes again!'

Before Melvanna could stop the tiny creature, it had already raced off, disappearing into the foliage of the nearby plants. She scrunched her eyes up, trying to make heads or tails of what the faerie had just told her. A Gerudo alliance? Gorons laying a trap at Lon Lon Ranch? If that was true, Melvanna needed to travel north and either warn her new allies, or disable this unknown trap.

The dragon heaved a great sigh, wondering why she had bothered returning at all. Lighting her long pipe, she beat her wings forcefully and began flying towards the farmland, only hoping she would make it there in time.

---

A rooster crowed from afar, marking Melvanna's approach to the sprawling Lon Lon Ranch. The tall stone walls that surrounded the entire property glinted gently in the sunlight.

The dragon had made good time, using just a little of her restored energy to blow the wind her way. Stopping only once in her flight to eat, she had seen no signs of other people, enemy or otherwise. Gathering her wings together against her back, she landed running, prepared to evade any possible ambush.

As she rounded the corner and took in the view of the rich green grass, Melvanna almost felt disappointed that there was not some great contingency of enemies lying in wait. She shrugged and slowed to her usual gait, heading out towards the corrals.

There were many sounds in the Lon Lon Ranch; natural sounds at a farm. The peaceful and innocent clucking of cuccos, the low mooing of cows and an occasional whinny of horses. Melvanna even smiled a little at the seeming serenity of the ranch, right until she stepped on something wet, sticky and disgusting.

'Ugh!' she exclaimed, looking at the bottom of her foot. Smeared all over it was an excessively large cucco poop. She glared at the nearest of the animals in utter abhorrence.

'I'm going to beat you with A TREE!' Melvanna flung her foot at the cucco and kicked it twice. The small unintelligent fowl squawked and flapped wildly, running away from the dragon. Only seconds later, it resumed scratching at the ground, oblivious to its prior attack.

Melvanna stared, enraged and amazed that the bird didn't even really react.

Then, it ruffled its feathers a little and let another great big turd plop to the ground.

The dragon dived at the cucco and began smacking it with one hand, rolling through a pile of hay. 'Filth bird!' she yelled.

The cucco squawked and struggled to get away. The longer Melvanna whacked it, the louder its screeches grew, filling the Lon Lon Ranch with its awful noise.

A low rumble grew in the distance. The dragon didn't notice it, caught up in her mindless frustration. When she finally let go of the hapless bird, it was far too late...

Descending from the heavens came a cloud of feathered beasts. Their wrath evoked, the immense flock of cuccos filled the sky like an unending cloud of flapping death-bringers.

Melvanna scampered backwards, at a complete loss of how to react. She knew in an instant that her energy was not enough to hold off the seemingly infinite amount of fowl. Nonetheless, she extended her arms towards the sky and began firing small balls of electricity from the palms of her hands. As the energy struck the cuccos, they exploded into fireballs and came crashing to the earth with the stink of burning feathers.

The dragon continued her defence against the birds, oblivious to Lon Lon Ranch going up in flames around her.

---

Melvanna collapsed, exhausted and weakened from fending off the rabid attack. Her eyes were blurry and full of soot, and the dragon was unable to obtain a clear grasp of reality. Crawling a few feet, she finally fell to the ground and drifted into a deep sleep.

---

Time passed, and Melvanna awoke to the scent of charred flesh. Her stomach rumbled enthusiastically in reply, drawing her dry eyes open. Sitting before her was an unidentifiable bundle of cooked meat for whence the smell originated. The dragon licked her lips, reaching for the item and pulling it straight to her mouth. Chewing eagerly, she stuffed the flesh into her mouth while sitting up.

'Mmm, tastes like chicken!'

Only then did she look around at the apocalyptic destruction and really saw the burnt out ruin that might have been Lon Lon Ranch previously. With a bit of a sniff, Melvanna reached down to retrieve her pipe and lit it thoughtfully.

And there she sat, waiting for the Gerudo to arrive, wondering if this would mark a short end to their alliance.

'Well, it was all that damned cucco's fault, anyhow.'

[Rolls-Royce Man]

Zant walked with the other Zoras to Flooded Pass. It was there he saw it.

The Bigocto.

Zant immeadiatley opened his book of spells and stared in the distance... and saw a disturbing sight. Something he knew would happen

There was another Bigocto in the distance.

Zant thumbed through the book, until he got to a page near the end of the book. Zant immeadiatley held forth his hand and said...."Cumonous Heerai!"

And with that the Bigocto was dragged to Zant, stunned due to the amazing speed at which it traveled. Zant immeadiatley grabbed the Warhammer from his Back and great Strength slammed it upon the Bigocto.

The Bigocto cracked open like a piggy Bank and 3 Bags of Gold where inside. Zant immeadiatley states ".....Bigoctos are know for Swallowing adventurers....It seems this one had only eaten one Traveler...." Zant immeadiatley pulled out a Skeleton from the Octo's Body, wearing Hylian Clothes. "We need to move, with two Dead Bigocto's here the enitre family will attack us...Come on" Stupified, the Zoras followed Zant to the border between Flooded Pass and the Cursed Mere, which is where Zant stops...."This is good enough" Says Zant as he notices the smoke coming from the Mere. "We can't go to the Cursed Mere yet, Bokoblins may already be all over it. We'll say here for now". Zant immeadiatly sits and goes off to sleep, hoping to get a good 40 Winks after all this excitement.

[Minister of Silly Walks]

The turn: 200 troops from SKR and 91 troops from LWW both move into the Black Forest (BF).

9 soldiers from LWW disperse in groups: 3 to the Petrified Forest (PF), 3 to The Tangle (tT), and 3 to the Sylvan Verge (SV).

40 soldiers from LWE move into SKR.

40 soldiers from KF move into DTG.

Convert 40 rupees to 20 resources.

The standings:
KF: 260
DTG: 90
SFM: 50
SKR: 240
LWE: 245
LWW: 0
tT: 3
SV: 3
PF: 3
BF: 291


The Questions: None for now

The RP: Money.

Kokiri liked money.

Maybe it was the childish nature in them that was greedy. Maybe they were just poorer than most and valued the money more. Whatever it was, they liked money. General Ivan Aaric was definitely no exception to the rule.

That day, at the daily General's meeting, Aaric burst through the wooden double doors, jammed his sword in the tabletop, and hopped up. Sitting indian-style on top of the table, he said, bluntly: "Let's get some more money."

The Deku refused to speak, mostly out of fear. Skull kid piped out, "Let's get some more territory, sir."

"Awesome idea!" Aaric stood up, and jumped off the table. Throwing his message to the messenger, he sat down in his seat. "I just sent 3 soldiers each to go get some territory. Petrified Forest, The Tangle, and the Sylvan Verge. Good idea, nay?"

"But sir," Kal piped up, "the Gorons are in the Sooted Wilds. That's one territory away."

"Who the hell cares? Dumb rocks won't know we're there. Besides, if we do, our guys can run. Besides, we'll still have the Sylvan Verge, the Gorons are nowhere near there. I'm just spreading the territory, Kally."

"You're sending 9 soldiers on a suicide mission!"

"Are you general of this army?" His voice was rising. "I didn't think so. It's a gamble, yeah. I'm gambling lives, yeah. This is a war. That's all we're doing. Playing with lives like they're pawns on a map." Aaric jumped on the table and kicked the markers off the Hyrulian map. "This might help us. It might hurt us. It might all break even. So what? We need money to fortify the Lost Woods. Those soldiers knew the risks before they signed up. This was one of the risks. They know what's going on."

"Fine, sir. If you want to kill your troops, that's fine with me."

In a flash, Aaric's sword flew across the room and pinned the corner of Kal's shirt to the chair.

Not saying a word, the general coolly walked out of the room, yanking his sword from the back of the chair.

When out of the room, he called back in. "I'm going out in the field. You and SK have a good time."

And then he was gone.

[Booyakasha]

Prince Wulfstan sat back in his chair, having just delivered a summary of his tactical decisions to the War Council; his personal servant stood just behind his chair, as always. Silence reigned over the assemblage for a time. Then, seemingly as one, the councillors began to raise objections, clearly trying not to shout out of grudging respect for the young lord, but still vying for his attention. After several seconds, the Prince rose, and all went quiet. "One at a time," the Prince admonished.

An aged minister in green velvet spoke first--"Young liege, the people have come to embrace the Undead as brethren; it will rankle them that you would cast their alliance aside so blithely."

The Prince chuckled mirthlessly. "The people are the ones who drove the Undead out in the first place, and it's a fool who supposes the Undead have forgotten as much. In any case, alliance with the Gorons places us in a stronger position--with allies on our eastern flank, we will be able to devote greater attention to the southern cutthroats."

Kiel, the scarred old campaigner who'd challenged the Prince when he first took command, blurted out, "You would give those rock-eating savages dominion over Kakariko Village?"

The Prince's hand dropped subtly to his sword-hilt. "We remind you, Major Kiel," he began, his voice flat and impassive, "that you speak to the first-born of your sovereign. We further remind you that the Gorons are a staunch ally, and that We have taken a blood oath of mutual protection. Finally, we enjoin you to consider--the people of Kakariko Village have no political connection to Us or Our kingdom. They pay no taxes, send no tribute, offer us no stout young men to fight in Hylia's wars. That they are descended from Hylian stock is of no practical consequence to Us. Do We make Ourselves clear?"

The major bowed; the Prince was not known to lapse into the ornate royal speech of the court except in moments of anger, and the wrath of a future monarch is nothing to be laughed at. When he looked up again, his eyes glinted with ill-concealed hatred. An uncomfortable silence fell across the room.

At last, Wulfstan spoke. "Gentlemen, it is late; this conference is adjourned for the day. We will begin again tomorrow morning." The councillors rose, bowed deeply, and filed out, leaving the Prince alone but for the servant. The Prince sat for several minutes, eyes closed, seemingly deep in thought. His servant approached the arm of his chair silently, waiting. At length, the Prince opened his eyes and stared out over the table. "Well?"

The servant spoke. "You saw the major's look, my liege. Your response to his insolence was just, but it humiliated him just the same. Additionally, my sources indicate he has distant relations in Kakariko; the Goron intrusion will not likely harm them, but he clearly considers it a point of honour to see the Gorons cast out." The prince nodded, and the servant continued hesitantly: "I believe Kiel will plot against you, if he has not begun to do so already."

The prince nodded wearily; all this political intrigue was exhausting. "Any other new plots?"

The servant shook his head. "I observed nothing. You know these low-born politicians, young master--treacherous, but unimaginatively so. If it doesn't line their pockets, they can't be bothered with it." The servant hesitated, appeared about to continue, and then stopped. Wulfstan noticed.

"Is there anything else?" The servant, obviously uncomfortable, appeared to be searching for words. The Prince smiled. "You believe it was wrong of me to break the alliance with the Undead?" The servant cast his eyes down and nodded. Prince Wulfstan clapped him on the arm and stood. "Well, it may even have been. The Alliance with the Undead, that was a blood oath, too. I don't claim it was right to break it off, merely...expedient. I'll accept the stain on my soul if it betters our chances of winning this war. And in the end, winning is the important thing." The servant began to speak, but the Prince waved him off, "No, no, I don't claim it's the only thing. But, as I see it, if we're victorious, our people will write the history books, and they'll do me justice--greater justice than I perhaps deserve. And if we lose, and the history books end up being written by some Kokiri brat up a tree, they'll say I was the king of all bastards--if I must die in this war, let me die hated by my enemies for being devious scum, not loved because I'm an easy target."

That said, the Prince strode out of the Council chamber, his servant trailing closely behind...
--------------------------------------------------------
Troop movements: 95 from Hylian Market to Ruined Tower, 5 from King's Highway North to Ruined Tower, 100 from Hylia Castle Town to Hylian Market, 300 from Guarded Path to King's Highway North, 150 from Guarded Path to Old Union Bridge, 100 from Old Union Bridge to Graveyard, 100 from Old Union Bridge to King's Highway South

Finances: 279 - 160 (trained troops) = 119 rupees

Territories: Castle Hylia 243, Temple of Time 0, Hylia Castle Town 0, Hylian Market 100, Guarded Path 300, Ruined Tower 100, King's Highway North 300, Old Union Bridge 150, King's Highway South 100, Graveyard 100

Resources: 100

[Blake]

Roleplay Later:



Game:
Goron Citadel:
- Train 20 gorons
- Move 20 gorons into Death Mountain Trail
- Move 100 gorons into Rivers of Stone

Dodongo's Cavern
- Move 25 gorons into Death Mountain Trail.

Death Mountain:
- Move 25 gorons into Rivers of Stone.

Rivers of Stone:
- Move 130 gorons into the Sooted Wilds
- Move 25 gorons into High Pass

Death Mountain Trail:
- Move 75 gorons into High Pass.

High Pass
- Move 25 gorons from high pass into Spectacle Rock.

Sooted Wilds:
- Attack Petrified Forest with 25 gorons.
- Attack The Tangle with 25 gorons.



TERRITORIES: Goron Citadel 400(-120 + 20 = 300), Death Mountain 25, Dodongo Cavern 25, Death Mountain Trail 130, Rivers of Stone 130, Kakariko Village 195, Sooted Wilds 325(-50 = 275), High Pass 125, Petrified Forest(25?), The Tangle(25?), Spectacle Rock(25)

Rupees: 292 - 280 = 212
Resources: 100

[Wyborn]

"Lord, our divinations reveal that Lon Lon Ranch has been destroyed."

Ganondorf looked up from his maps, where he had been considering a series of figurines representing the amassed troops of the different races, and the intensity of his eyes made the twin witches flinch.

"How many casualties?"

"None, my lord," Kotake said where Koume fell silent. "A freelancer working for the Gorons set traps, of a nature so that no one but a Goron could enter the ranch unharmed, but the Zora's mercenary entered the ranch with the intent of disabling the traps and ended up burning the area to cinders."

"How?"

"An accident, lord," Koume said, "I am sure the young dragon meant no offense."

"You said there were no casualties; what of the livestock?"

"Lord?" both sisters spoke together.

"The entire reason for our race to Lon Lon was the acquisition of their horses; we have enough people trained to ride that we could make a formidable archery division out of them, given a month. How much livestock was lost?"

"Countless cuccos, lord, and one milk cow, but the owners of the ranch managed to evacuate with nearly two hundred horses and half again as many cattle."

The silence that followed this was almost jarring, and the two sisters fidgeted as they looked at their surrogate son, who was staring at the map spread before him. The howling of the storm in the Haunted Wasteland could be heard throughout the entire fortress.

"Another bit of news, Ganondorf," Kotake said, and Koume bowed in deference as she stepped back under the king's too-intense eyes. "We have confirmed that the general of the Hylian army has fallen ill, possibly from some poison, and that the Hylian forces are now being lead by the crown prince, returned from his training in Koholint."

"Perfect."

"Sire?"

"The crown prince is crafty, and will be suspicious, but he is too young to remember my ascension to my own throne and too soon returned to have pieced together that I started this war. He is mistrustful by nature - Kotake." The blue-jeweled sister stood straighter. "You will go to the crown prince and inform him of the action undertaken by the Goron's mercenary, and how it has cost him the use of Lon Lon's resources, though we will be willing to negotiate on that front. Go."

"Yes, Ganondorf," she said, and with a bow she disappeared in a flurry of light and icy cold, a chill wind blowing across the entirety of the fortress.

"Koume," and the red-jeweled sister rose from her bow and looked her surrogate son in the eyes, "in which direction did the Lon Lon owners flee?"

"South, lord. I imagine that they recognized the mercenary as working for the Gorons, somehow, and assumed it was he who destroyed their ranch. I would be willing to bet they never saw the dragon amidst her flame."

"You will inform the commander outside of Lon Lon of this situation, and give her instructions to intercept and return with their horses and cattle."

"Yes, lord."

"After giving these directions, go to the Zora general and inform him of my displeasure as his inability to keep an eye on his own freelancer. Make it clear that this has strained the alliance."

"Yes, lord."

"And one more thing, Koume." Ganondorf grinned, the flash of white in his dark face having a strange, wolfish quality not normally found in his regal features. "When you and Kotake return, I will be ready to march with the troops. If the crowned prince of Hyrule has returned, it would be best for him to see the face of his conqueror."

The old woman cackled, knowing she was dismissed, and disappeared in a flash of light and heat.

Rising, Ganondorf strode out from the shade of his pavilion, and spread his arms out to the troops who were amassed before him.

"My warriors, prepare - WE MARCH!"

They began to cheer over the sound of ringing metal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And if we lose, and the history books end up being written by some Kokiri brat up a tree, they'll say I was the king of all bastards--if I must die in this war, let me die hated by my enemies for being devious scum, not loved because I'm an easy target."

A blast of icy wind sent the prince's clothes fluttering, and his manservant wheeled on his heels in surprise and something like panic at the sound of ancient, cackling laughter.

"That is wisdom, my lord prince of Hyrule, honor unto your family and may your father reign forever."

The Prince turned too, then, but he knew already what he would see: Kotake, the ice witch, had appeared in the middle of his fortress - or hadn't, and this was just an image of her. The very sight sent chills through him, though: his time in Koholint had forged him into steel, and he knew that his own sorcery would trump hers, that he could snuff her out with precious little effort, but he could not help recalling the words spoken to him by his nanny in his youth, spoken to him as they had been spoken to all Hylian children for the past hundred and thirty years.

You must not be bad, my Prince; for if you are bad, the Twinrova will come and steal you away.

"What are you doing here, witch?" the servant asked, overcoming his shock to step between his lord and this potential threat, too excited in the moment to realize that he was breaking protocol. For the moment the prince allowed him to continue.

"I have come to deliver a message to the crown prince and future master of Hyrule," Kotake said, bowing so low that he nose and blue jewel nearly touched the ground. "As you have undoubtedly heard, my fair master, Lon Lon Ranch has been lost - burned to the ground, as a result of traps set by a Goron mercenary." She grinned at the Prince as if he had flinched, though he had not. "Well does my own king, Ganondorf, know how important the ranch is to Hyrule, and to the Hylians in particular - we have taken care to commandeer the livestock and give the owners of the ranch safe passage into our lands. My lord is willing to bargain with my prince concerning the matter of returning the cattle into the hand of their proper master."

No mention was made of the horses, the pride of all of Hyrule, but still the prince said nothing; he could think of nothing that would break through the impenetrable facade of this witch's compliance.

"The main purpose of my visit is this, my prince: my own lord bids you beware of the Gorons, for they do not appear to be acting in the best interest of the continuance of your kingdom. If you will give me your leave to go, my prince, I will return soon to obtain your answer concerning the matter of the Lon Lon cattle."

"You have it, Kotake; be gone."

With a laugh and a whirl, she had left, or the image had left, or whatever; Wulfstan exhaled, as he had found himself utterly unable to do in the witch's presence. Was there some old fable about Twinrova stealing one's breath? It did not matter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of the animals moving was like thunder, two thousands hooves striking the ground in an intermittent rain that drowned out all sound except for the high whoops of the hands who had taken charge of the massive heard; getting the cattle and horses to run together would normally have bordered on impossible, especially with the fires still raging behind them, but the Lon Lon ranchers were the best in the world, Hyrulian or not.

Talon, the owner of the ranch, rode at the head of the drive, alongside his daughter, Malon, who as always rode upon Epona, the finest mare that the ranch had ever produced.

It took them several minutes to slow to a stop, but when they saw the moving mass of purple cloth and silver scimitars precious little distance away, they did stop; many were the tales of the Gerudo being pushed by the wind, able to overtake any sizable group of people over a short distance, and Talon did not dare run that risk. He sat upon his horse, waiting as the apparent leader of the Gerudo ran towards him. Malon was at his side, as always.

They dismounted when the captain drew near, and in that moment Talon became aware of the smell of his animals. It took on a pleasant quality for him; they were his, and the gods would be damned if he would let anyone take them from him while he drew breath.

"You are the mistress of the horses?" the Gerudo asked.

"I am Malon of Lon Lon," Malon answered with a nod, and Talon did not speak out; the Gerudo would only address a man as a leader when royalty was present, and even then only when Ganondorf himself had acknowledged them.

"Allow us to escort you to the Gerudo fortress, horse mistress; there is a war on, and we have reason to believe that the destruction of your ranch was brought on by a mercenary hired by an ally of the Hylian king."

"Can you offer proof of this?"

"We cannot, Malon; we can only offer you and your livestock safe conduct and protection from the war."

Talon grunted, just low enough that it could not be heard by either of the women, but he was put someone to ease when Malon asked "And what do you want that we have?"

The Gerudo did not grin; she was delivering words from her king. "We will commandeer one half of your horses for the war effort, and there is a good chance that we will sell all of the cattle back to the Hylian king."

"How will we be compensated for the loss of our animals?"

"With your lives, firstly," the Gerudo said, but her voice held no menace; it was the simple truth. "You will be given quarters in the Gerudo fortress, and at the end of the war we will help you rebuild your ranch and restock your cattle. You are well-known as a great rider, horse mistress; if you would give us the month or two it would take to teach our archers to fire from the saddle, you would be given full status as a member of the Gerudo tribe, as would your father and ranch hands. If you so wished, you could command your own division, once we are sure you are up to the task."

Malon licked her lips, but Talon could tell she was taken aback by the sheer enormity of it, and cleared his throat. The Gerudo's head turned to look at him a tad too quickly for him to be comfortable, but he spoke anyway. "What you mean to say," Talon said, and he ignored the look of terror that his daughter gave him for speaking to a Gerudo captain, "is that we have to choose: be killed and have our animals stolen here, or lend aid to an enemy of our own race - of our rightful king."

The Gerudo just nodded. "You understand, then. Still, there is honor in aiding us; when we win this war, Ganondorf will be king, and your status and home will be restored to you three-fold."

"We will petition Ganondorf about the use of our herds."

"You may," the Gerudo said, "and he may even listen: but your daughter is fair, and her hair is red enough that I would be careful that the king does not give her a daughter." Malon flinched, but the Gerudo continued to look Talon in his eyes. "You have a stout heart, Hylian. You will serve us well, I think - and if you are lucky, you will give us strong daughters. Are we in agreement that you will let us escort you to the Gerudo Fortress?"

"There is no need," Malon said, "for an escort. I have heard of the alliance between the Gerudo and the Zora - we are hemmed in on all sides, and will travel faster by ourselves. We will go to the fortress." Talon nodded his approval, though at that point it was far too late to do anything.

"Agreed. May the goddesses guard you on your journey." With that she returned to her troops at a run, and then the lot of them were on the move again.

"Come on, sweetheart," Talon said as the two of them mounted their horses. "We'll figure something out, but right now this is our lot and if we want to hold onto anything we had best get going."

"Yes, Papa," Malon said.

The herd started to move again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All right then, little bit of an RP summary before moving on to actual troop movements and such.

When Lon Lon Ranch burned, the family escaped - Malon, Talon, Ingo, and various other hands herding 300 cattle and 200 horses into Hyrule Field South. The Gerudo adjacent to that hex intercepted them, and they are now headed back to the Gerudo fortress.

Kotake went and bugged the Crown Prince a bit, using magic to cast an illusion of herself into the fortress; the idea that she could get in is kind of ridiculous, so she poses no actual threat, especially since the Prince could kill her if she ever did get in.

Cravdraa, Koume should be showing up on your doorstep either in your next post or in mine, if you want to go in that direction, to point out how dangerous it is not to keep an eye on your freelancer. Won't really be there, etc.

Question the First: I found an RP reason to have horses, and canonically the Gerudo have had horseback archers; would it be possible for me to train 100 mounted archers?

Question the Second: Do armies have to be in adjacent hexes to attack, or do they have to be in the same hex? If the latter, does attacking from an adjacent hex require movement?

Question the Third: Is what I did there with the cattle and horses even kosher? If not just ignore it, I don't mind, I just thought it was neat.

Actual Actions Taken:

Troop Movements: 600 from Gerudo Fortress to The Chasm North, 200 from The Chasm North to Scorched Land, 200 from The Chasm South to Thieve's Den, 200 from Hyrule Field SW to Hyrule Field S, and use my race's special ability to move the 200 from Hyrule Field S to The Fences.

Finances: 542 rupees still, unless I am mistaken

Resources: 140

Territories: Gerudo Fortress 0, Haunted Wasteland 0, Desert Colossus 0, Hyrule Field SW 0, Hyrule Field S 0, Old Corral 0, Chasm South 0, Red Rock pass 0, Chasm North 600, Thieve's Den 200, Scorched Land 200, The Fences 200 (+4, 12 total)

[Tales of CuccoLady]

EDIT: SK's right. Sorry. I'll post another RP in a bit.

[Microphone_Kirby]

(Ooc: Wait, CuccoLady! The Collosus is at best 5 Spaces (Territories) away from Lon Lon Ranch, and Freelancers can only move 4 spaces per turn! Check the map carefully if you don't believe me!!)

[Tales of CuccoLady]

There didn't seem to be too much to do... not too many resources were evident in the desolate wasteland.

"Maybe I'll start heading back to the Fortress. Tomorrow, I'll resume work for Lord Ganondorf... in the meantime I need to get out of this forsaken place."

Leila placed one foot in front of the other and walked until the rocklike structure of Gerudo Fortress came into view.

From there, she received intelligence that the Gerudo army was on the move, and she also heard of the tragic story of Lon Lon ranch. Not really having anything better to do, she decided to head toward the ranch to check things out.

She treaded carefully, and managed to avoid detection by other races. After awhile, dusk fell and she entered Red Rock Pass. She was at the entrance to Hyrule Field.

"OK, I'll rest here for tonight, and we'll see what tomorrow brings."

Leila set up a ramshackle tent under the shelter of the maroon boulders, and soon slept.

[Minister of Silly Walks]

OoC: Booya, when's the Warmod update coming tonight?

[Booyakasha]

Crav hasn't posted yet.

[EDIT: Been up since six this morning, and just finished a full shift at my store. Tired. Warmod update postponed at least until tomorrow morning: if Crav hasn't posted by then, I'll at least answer your questions and PMs. G'night.]