[Stratos doesn’t deign to answer, though he meets Bennet’s eyes calmly enough for that moment, as he draws his hood over his head. Then the knight is on his way, and it’s not clear if the mage has taken his advice or not, but he’ll feel Stratos draw on his magic once, twice, and then a third time closer down the path. Stratos wasn’t trained to fight from behind the lines, and when chaos is a foregone conclusion he much prefers to be the one instigating it. Nor can he actually throw any stones when it comes to Bennet’s pragmatic methods. As the latter bounds down the rocks to find an iron-armored orc drawing a greataxe on him, there’s a faint sound on the edge of hearing. Stratos runs past the imminent duel, invisible and muffled, trusting Bennet’s skill with a blade.]
[He’s heading straight past the unwary bandits and for those sentry posts. Having held back on the strength he poured into his invisibility spell, he only has moments to get out of sight. Unseen, unheard, he scrambles up the ladder to one of the raised platforms. The archer at the top is peering back toward the sound of shouts and ringing steel, only to jerk and collapse as Stratos reappears at his side. The archer on the next platform gets an ice spike through his chest almost before he can draw, and his dying arrow goes wild as he falls. Which leaves the archers below on the rocks almost at the mage’s mercy. But he can’t spend all day taking shots at them – and he’s conscious of the clash further uphill, still undecided by the sound of things. ]
[Stratos glances over the two he can see, quickly, and then loses one more bolt: a frenzy spell. Let the other archers deal with that for a few moments. The mage ducks behind his wooden cover to refocus and recover. The archers are his first priority, but if he can disrupt the other bandits from ganging up on Bennet then he will. He just needs to catch his breath, so to speak. And look out for a sword. The knife swiped from the first bandit won’t get him far and sometimes it's useful to switch tactics. He finds it takes people by surprise.]
[He can hear curses being thrown Bennet’s way and despite himself, the tribune smiles grimly. They ought to save their breath.]
[OOC: no problem, internet access and RL tend to be pretty variable this time of year anyway :)]
no subject
[He’s heading straight past the unwary bandits and for those sentry posts. Having held back on the strength he poured into his invisibility spell, he only has moments to get out of sight. Unseen, unheard, he scrambles up the ladder to one of the raised platforms. The archer at the top is peering back toward the sound of shouts and ringing steel, only to jerk and collapse as Stratos reappears at his side. The archer on the next platform gets an ice spike through his chest almost before he can draw, and his dying arrow goes wild as he falls. Which leaves the archers below on the rocks almost at the mage’s mercy. But he can’t spend all day taking shots at them – and he’s conscious of the clash further uphill, still undecided by the sound of things. ]
[Stratos glances over the two he can see, quickly, and then loses one more bolt: a frenzy spell. Let the other archers deal with that for a few moments. The mage ducks behind his wooden cover to refocus and recover. The archers are his first priority, but if he can disrupt the other bandits from ganging up on Bennet then he will. He just needs to catch his breath, so to speak. And look out for a sword. The knife swiped from the first bandit won’t get him far and sometimes it's useful to switch tactics. He finds it takes people by surprise.]
[He can hear curses being thrown Bennet’s way and despite himself, the tribune smiles grimly. They ought to save their breath.]
[OOC: no problem, internet access and RL tend to be pretty variable this time of year anyway :)]