Orpheous was dismayed. He had seen the size of Roronek's troops, and there was no doubt that wasn't the general's full forces. Roronek probably was even still being supplied with armed soldiers. It had been about two weeks since the events at that forsaken cave, and here they were now, on the verge of war.

He had sent out a string of letters to those who aided him back at the cave, and he had tried to spread word to gather the help of other brave adventures as well. They would need all the help they could get. Orpheous' first plan of action when he got back into town was to inform the crown through a representative. Orpheous got news back that a brigade of Hylian Knights could be issued to halt Roronek's progress, but that many of there current positions couldn't be abandoned, as many of them where at crucial junctures with different groups of Exile forces. So, only a small percentage of Hyrule's army, the Knights, could be sent to assist. Even then, they didn't have a location to send them too, not yet.

Orpheous had some of Bou's friends out searching, trying to see if they could find or at least catch wind of Roronek's battalion, but so far, no success had been made. Although, Orpheous had his suspicions they were still in the Highlands, he was near certain of that. A group as large of his couldn't pass out of the narrow Highland passes without getting noticed, because it would take too long for them to move through. Orpheous had tightened his search to there, but still no trace had come up.

He sighed, resting his head on the grimy table in the Ornery, waiting for aid to arrive, though some of his colleagues were already there, such as Simon, Ryan, and Stephan.

OOC: This is a string of topics, so please, I do ask for dedication, in return, if we have active members, I'll be sure to be an active mod and keep this ball rolling. Also, this takes place prior to STS and even the Grand Tournament, but I'm not going to demand that you keep that in mind when choosing your character, and yes, you can use more than one. Just make sure that you can handle all you bring along, I'd hate to see a secondary get neglected.

Raven was hungry. And she didn't know if this was the place they wanted to be to get food. Raptor, her twin brother, and she walked into the Ornery Cucco Tavern. Her eyes glanced over the patrons as she looked for anyone who might mean them harm, and found no one. On of the many things their mother had taught them was how to read people's body language, and she was getting good at it. Just as she was about to ask what was available to eat, she heard her brother ask, "Do you need anyone killed? We're kinda short on rupees."

She fumed a bit. He'd asked the man, who was probably trying to fight off a bad headache, with his head down. That wasn't the kind of thing one should walk up and ask a random stranger. "Dammit, Raptor, don't be so forward," she hissed.

The child turned to face Orpheous. "Forgive my brother," she said. "He plays such silly games." She grabbed Raptor by the arm and yanked him away, heading toward the exit. It looked like they were going to have to go shopping for food and prepare their own meal.

"Wait," called Orpheous to the odd group that he had run in to, or rather that had run into him. Raptor's offer had peaked his interest. What were a couple of kids doing operating as hitmen. Oh well, he didn't bother over that issue now. Not when he could use their aid. "Fear not, I am no Guard or Knight. But, it is not someone I need dead either," began the scribe.

"Perhaps you've heard of Roronek, commonly believed to be the head of the Galfin massacre, which was the slaughter of the innocent villagers of Galfin, up by North Forest. After that, Roronek sailed away, but now he's back. He's gathering a small army in Hyrule, and I've witnessed a fraction of these forces with my own eyes. He must be stopped. And, if it is rupees you seek, and I can pay you for your assistance. What do ya' say?" he asked.

*CRACK*

The sound was painful, made worse after the loud noise was repeated, a young boy entering the tavern soon after they ceased. His skin was tanned, albeit only to a more healthy shade of white, and his clothes seemed all the more rough from being having been in the swirling desert sands for so long. Despite such changes, his face and hair were recognizable from the start; it was Worru, albeit tired and clearly exhausted from some unheard-of travel.

"Hey, how's it goin', Orph?" The question was asked as his small hands found a chair, pulling it over to where the aged friend and his companions were set at. "I've... been out and about, m'self." His neck hung off the back of the chair, a simple shake allowing some grains of sand to fall from his short hair, a sigh following the action. He seemed older, somehow, stronger, if not by much, but still smiling even if he changed. "It's been like... ages since I last saw you, man. Or maybe it hasn't. M'head's all messed up right now, I couldn't tell if it was day if I stared at the sun."

Raven turned back around and loosened her grip on her brother's arm. If this man was willing to pay them enough to get them through the next couple weeks, they would gladly assist him. Still, she thought it would be a good idea to act reluctant. Maybe that would get him to offer more than he would have otherwise. "So you don't need one person dead, but -"

"A whole army dead," Raptor interrupted. "Deal."

"For the right price, of course," she said to Raptor in a scolding tone. "My little brother thinks we are a two person army. We are assassins, not soldiers. Are you going to be able to make good use of us?"

OOC: If you were planning on actually donating rupees to my account, you don't have to. We could just pretend that Orpheous is going to pay the Ravenclaw twins.

It's a common saying that the best offense is a good defense. It's a common belief that the best offense is a better offense than the other guys' offense, but that one should say the best offense is a good defense because it makes them wise in some way or other. However, one of the least common beliefs in existence was that the best offense, defense, and everything in between was a state of drunkenness.

A rarity was in the Ornery Cuccoo Tavern tonight.

Hearing of Roronek's impending attack from an old wisened widow with old wisened breasts, he had mounted the noble steed of a man in the weapon's shop and departed for the castle at once. Fatiguing the horse with his tremendous girth, he spent the next several minutes carrying the horse upon his own back. Eventually, they both agreed that this relationship just wasn't going to work, and went their seperate ways.

If he could lift his leg at an angle of more than twenty degrees, he would have kicked the door to the tavern open, with his long, tangled hair blowing in the breeze. Under the circumstances, the most badass entrance he could accomplish was to fumble with the doorknob for several seconds, wipe his sweaty palm on his ripping pants, and wrestle the handle once more. Pushing the door open with gusto, he knocked a waitress to the floor as he opened the toothless oral cavity veiled behind a jungle of blackest vines.

"I's comed ter defend 'yrule."

Shuffling out of his commanding figure and into as-close-to-normal-as-he-gets mode, the rotund man made his way to a table filled with children. Clearly, they needed an older role model.

Or perhaps he just posessed more similarities to them than anyone nearer his own age.

Ranger Dick Danger didn't frequent the Ornery Cucco Tavern, or even the castle town square, but he just so happened to be there today. He spent most of his time in the mountains and forests doing rangerly things such as admiring nature's beauty, helping lost hikers find their way home, or informing people the importance of preventing forest fires. Being here was a rare treat.

Upon hearing about a small army gathering in Hyrule, Dick put his empty glass down on the table, put on his brimmed hat, and rose to his feet. "I don't suppose there is anything I can do to help?" he asked in his manly, booming voice as he walked over to the gathering crowd.

Nogare didn't dare interfere yet. Helping Hyrule was his duty, but helping them take down a beast like Roronek was going to be a gong show. A pair of baby ninjas for hire, a drunk Sabertache, Orpheus just waiting there, this ranger who seems to be full of himself, and an already-tired and dozed out Worru (who seemed to be in quite the same state as Saber...)...

He sighed contently. Would helping them also spare their lives on their quest, which seemed even now doomed from the start? He stared down at his Lon Lon Milk... Why would he come to a bar to drink milk? Even if it was the best? Maybe it was bad luck. Well, there's nothing that can come of it now. His duty is to protect and save, and that is definitely what he would be doing by assisting them in their mission...

"Well... might as well..." he grunted himself off his chair, Belegcam like a weighty backpack along his back. It needed him to have work cut out for him, or it would only get worse.

He didn't say a word just yet. He sat down wordlessly, and stared at Orpheus, with a look of, "Is this all you've got?" before actually speaking, his tone a little more sarcastic than he intended it to be; "Is the People's Front on vacation? Or occupied? Valtur was with you in the cave near Ruto, he told me about what happened up until where he left you guys without a word... This was where he assumed to meet you, so here I am. Please tell me you have a plan?" The son of Grayblade watched him from below his eyebrows, expecting something good to hold the human's seemingly hopeless campaign together...

OOC: Man it's hard to be a telepath only part of the time >_<... Blades are telepaths right? But it's not fair in HA2 if I make him one. Even sensing emotions is a bit much at times. Keeping him below-Blade and still fair is agonizing... -sigh-... Well, I just hope I made a good enough post. And Saber, I like your post XD. And if I haven't said so already, I'll say it now, welcome back SL13. And btw ToT evolved a bit but never really prospered, if you're still curious. I saw earlier that you became a member before MV fell apart... We were gonna do something with it, but... yeah... HA2 was enough anyway. Also haven't talked to you much, Worru, talk to me on MSN sometime, I miss you bro lol. And Orpheus, here I am, finally posted ^_^". So yeah. Anywho, let's do this. And sorry if Nogare sounds a bit sarcastic in this. For the record, he's not meaning to direct his sarcasm at anything on the outside... I'll leave it at that. So yeah ^_^. Let's do this!

To the young vagabond, Worru, Orpheous merely scratched his scalp in confusion. He didn't recall meeting the boy before, but if the boy knew his name. Plus, he was looking to help, or so Orpheous hoped.

The ninjas who couldn't have been older than ten worried Orpheous, normally he wouldn't take in children, but this was as dire time, and they needed all the help they could get. Still, Orpheous would be sure not to put them in harms way if he could avoid it. "Sure, yes, I'll be able to make use of you," he said to them .

Burlo didn't really need any explaining to, he seemed like he knew what was going on well enough as it was. Even if he was drunk. So did that courageous Ranger, or perhaps he was just foolish. Orpheous would never say that to the man's face, though, again, Hyrule needed help. Lastly, there was Nogare, whom Orpheous also did not know. So many new faces, but he was looking to help too. Great, more aid. He didn't know what Nogare meant by People's Front though (seeing as how Orpheous has not founded them yet, this early in the timeline).

"Good, it seems we have a fair enough amount of people here," began the word-smith. "Please, for Hyrule's sake, give me your ears. For those of you who do not know, the fiend Roronek, the very one responsible for the massacre at Galfin those years ago, has returned to Hyrule. He is amassing and army, and logic would dictate he's come to attack North Castle. As of now, we are fairly certain he and his troops are holed up somewhere in the Ruto Highlands, and as soon as I get word from the scouts I have sent out, those of you willing to help, along with my friends and a small battalion of Hyrulean Knights will set out from North Castle to intercept his Army, and destroy it. It will be difficult, seeing as the King could only afford to give us a small percent of the Knights, but I think we stand a chance with the right tactics. Those of you who are afraid may leave, but those of you who are willing to fight, please remain so I can further brief all of you," he instructed.

OOC: Oops, my bad, sorry Orph >.<

IC: Nogare's expression didn't change focus. He folded his hands and listened to the human with undivided attention, learning what he could to protect Hyrule. When Orpheus had finished, Nogare spoke first, after having waiting long enough for the others to speak. "If what you're saying is true, then North Castle is in terrible danger. It's walls have the most powerful defenses seen in a castle. I have seen with my own eyes what it's capable of. If this Roronek you speak of can overwhelm our defenses, then his army must indeed be vast and powerful. What sort of siege tactics do you know of him bearing, for the sake of preparing alternately. If you wish to attack first to hold them at bay and weaken them at the very least, then I'm in. It seems like a necessary move to make. But I'm sure if he can even hope to carry his plans out to besiege this castle, he can likely anticipate a handful of scouts trying to sneak around and finding out his plans. I would not wait for them too long. If it's been about half a week, don't at all. We should prepare the counter attack, soon. Harkinian will be damned to anything outside the castle. I'll go with you for as long as I can, but I won't let myself die for this attack. I have better things to die for than a counter-attack on yet another army of Hyrule's enemies. But I leave the command up to you. And no, I'm not a mercenary, I'm just a protector of the peace."

Nogare held his spear, and rubbed it with his thumb, as if calming it down.

In the back of Raven's mind, she knew she was going to take the deal. They needed money, and until passage to the monster plagued South was available there wasn't a lot someone in her line of work could do. This was going the be the best chance they got. "We'll stick around," she told Orpheous.

This was going to be different from anything she had ever done. Raptor and she had never gone up against a very large group of people. It would also be the first time she worked alongside anyone other than Raptor - or her mother, who often let them tag along when she was hunting her weaker targets. It was going to be difficult working with these... people. Until they proved themselves capable fighters, she was going to view them all as obstacles for her enemies to deal with.

A healthy belch escaped Burlo's lips.

"Tha's serposed ter be an yes."

He hefted his splintered quarterstaff above his shoulder with tremendous show of effort, a tiny blue glow encompassing the sad piece of wood.

"I's an 'ealer and'll fight too! Where're an' when're we goin'?"

There was no way around it. The fool had fallen asleep, tired from an unmentionable adventure out in the deserts, easily lost within the confines of an already confusing system of space-time shenanigans. Although such misadventures would indeed be full of comedy and personal growth, this is not the time to hear of them. Now is time for conversation, should the boy be awoken by any of those around the table.

A noise had awoken him, sending shivers down his frail-seeming body, as he pulled himself up to sit correctly in the chair. Worru had hit his second wind this time, smiling dreamily with eyes half-lidded from a lack of energy to keep them fully open. He was assuredly aware of the situation, despite needing some catching up, but would clearly need aid should they require immediate action.

Seriously. The kid was tired and probably can't do much besides listen right now. He didn't feel it right to speak, either. Gotta conserve energy where you can.

OOC: Sorry that I ignored this topic for as long as I did. I plan on alerting all participants, and perhaps inviting more people to join. Everybody has three weeks to join this topic and reply to it before I plan to bring it to a conclusion and launch the next phase of topics. Which will be the actual battle. On second thought, there may be some stat fighting, so you might want to make sure all characters you involve have stats.

IC: And so time continued passing. The seconds becoming minutes as the ill informed scribe tried to communicate with his new allies. Orpheous really wished those reports would come in so he had an idea of where to send these adventures and the small battalion he had amassed. He was sure it was the Highlands. Now all he needed were some exact coordinates.

First he addressed Nogare. "Good sir, you have my assurances that the very best operatives working with technology far ahead of its time are looking for Roronek. I can assure you that they have probably already found where we is holed up, we just need correspondence. I have seen a fraction of the army he has gathered, and they are well trained. Yet, I can assure you that North Castle's normal defensive strategies for sieges should suffice. They haven't built a device yet to pierce these walls. Besides, we hope to take advantage of natural choke points to slaughter his forces before they can make the migration down from the flats. We hope you don't die as well, actually we have no intention of any of you dying, and we are fortunate and conservative, none of you will be put in harms way. I never assumed you to be a mercenary good sir, but we do offer monetary compensation, that we we demand you take it."

Next he addressed the other inquisitive fellow, Burlo. "I have bad news, good healer. We wait for reports before we move out, which should hopeful come this eventide. Even then, we'll have to wait until first light before making our move. We believe to be aiming to travel up to the flats to intercept and or ambush his forces. Yet, we are still waiting on-"

Then he was interrupted by a young vagabond bursting into the mostly empty tavern, save for this small grouping of a strike team. "Orpheous, sir, word just came in from a falcon. They have found Roronek's temporary camp, but he looks like he will be on the march within a few days." Orpheous sighed. "His forces appear roughly half a thousand strong according to the reports." Orpheous almost fainted. North Castle could resist an attack of that seize, and he knew that Nogare knew that. But, it was a lot more than he hoped to go against for the interception tactic. They would truly need ambush techniques if they were going to succeed.

Orpheous spoke once more to the group. "Alright, comrades. We know where Roronek's camp is. We will meet outside the Castle by the gate tomorrow morning, and from there, we'll move to join the battalion awaiting us to the north. Further marching instructions will be given at the meeting tomorrow. You are all free to go find a bed and get some rest, for these next few days will be hectic. Personally, I plan to stay here a little longer, I was expecting somebody else to reply for my letter requesting assistance, I hope that they'll show up this evening. Good night, hope to see you all tomorrow."

Jerrick pushed through the doors as he whistled a merry tune. He seemed a little happy to be hanging around inside a tavern, but nobody questioned it. He was wearing his usual pair of ratty pants, which were tucked into ankle tape wrapped around his ankles and lower calves. Shirtless as always, his physique was practically glowing as bright as his blue eyes. His long blonde hair blew behind him as a wind escaped the tavern through the opened doors. He was wearing new wrist tape too- he'd probably just finished training. That would explain why he was stopping in for a cool drink. He took a seat at the bar and smiled at the bar tender. "Hey there bud! How 'bout a Flailing Korok, on the rocks!" He called out, before looking around the bar. Not too many folks hanging around. Suddenly his drink appeared in front of him, and tipped the bottom up, chugging it like there was no tomorrow.

When not a drop was left in the glass, he slammed it down on the table and wiped his lips with his free arm. "One more!" He requested, the bar tender taking the cup and whipping up another. Once more, Jerrick scanned the room for anyone interesting. However, all he managed to find was a rather glum looking fella near the wall. He studied the man for several seconds before making the decision to speak with him. He heard the glass hit the table in front of him, and turned to grab it. He placed the rupees on the counter, and took his drink to the table near the glum one. "Howdy pardner!" He stated in an over-done cowboy accent. "Care to spill your troubles to ol' Jerrick? I'm good for a listen." He added before tipping the glass up and taking a big icy swig. "Man this hits the spot!" He exclaimed after placing the glass, which was still half full on the table in front of him. "So how 'bout it? What's on your mind?"