Sir Deimos and writing

Well, I'm too busy to read, so I might as well write. That may seem a bit weird to you as it is generally easier to read than it is to write. You see, I work in a call center-type environment and I take calls from students every few minutes. Right now calls are coming in 15 to 50 seconds apart. By the time I pick up my book and start reading I can get maybe a page in before I have another call. Then I have to put the book up so that I can handle the call which can last anywhere from a few seconds up to three minutes. This gets old real fast when trying to read.

Writing however, is easier. When I get a call, the needed screen pops up blocking my writing. When I'm done, I just click on the tab, the screen with my writing pops back up, and I continue where I left off. I can even write, in limited form, during a call if I need to finish a word. Writing this way is a little hard, especially on things like spelling. But it's how I've written everything on this blog. I just have to proofread a bit more.

I get to roleplay tonight! Yeah!! I'm playing a young battle hardend knight of the church named Deimos of Ironhold. Deimos' background story was written by me, but the GM is the one who decided that I was a young knight of the church. He also decreed that the kingdom that I was from had been destroyed by a massive, organized, Orc army. He also wanted the characters to start on a refugee boat. I had to fill in the rest...

The name Deimos is straight from Greek mythology, he was one of the sons of the Greek god Ares. Also, a moon of Mars bears this name. The name Deimos means "terror" in Greek.

Deimos (the character) is the third son of Laban, Baron of Ironhold, a small but ancient family with distant ties to the King. Laban's 1st born son Mathew stands to inherit the barony and the second-born Tomas has used his wealth and family name to secure the rank of officer within the prestigious light horse Calvary, the Borderlanders, where he serves with distinction and honor.

In a show of piety as is customary, Deimos was given to the church at the age of 5. The monks quickly discovered that they had something of a prodigy in their young pupil. Deimos was quick to pick up on the importance of reading and writing, soon becoming well versed in both. He studied the classics, different languages, and the histories. His passion for knowledge led him to study the rise and fall of nations, various races both human and otherwise, medicine, and sociology. He was fascinated by the military aspect of the histories. He learned and played various games of strategy, quickly grasping the rules and defeating his opponents. Soon, only the older monks could keep up with him.

He was also very energetic. He enjoy physical games as well as mental ones and had a hard time during activities that required one to be still or quiet such as meditation or prayer. The monks soon decided that his energies and intellect would best serve him and the church if directed into different channels. They applied for Deimos to join the Crimson Legion, the church's knights. He was accepted on his 9th birthday and traveled to the city of Caspian where the order had their training grounds. There, Deimos was taught by monks academic skills like math, heraldry, medicine, and theology. He was also started on weapons training, mostly broadsword, bow, staff, and lance. He learned to ride and care for horses, and to maintain the weapons, armour and tack that came with his calling. On his 11th birthday, he was given to Sir Thaddeus Heart.

Thaddeus was an older knight, having served the church for almost thirty-seven years. He was craggy and lean, battle scarred and rugged. He had fought in several wars and campaigns, had received multiple honors, and had lost everyone who had ever been close to him. He decided that he wanted to pass on his legacy to another. Having no children of his own he requested to pick his successor from the children serving as apprentices. He chose Deimos due to the intelligence and physical aptitude that the boy displayed.

Deimos soon found that his training had only just begun. Sir Heart started by having the boy take care of all of his gear, usually while reciting lessons, listening to lectures, and being quizzed. Deimos thrived under Thaddeus' tutelage. Over the next 2 years he grew in both stature and intellect, quickly outstripping the other squires his age.

Sir Heart received orders to investigate some disturbing rumors coming from the borderlands regarding an orc uprising. He took his young squire with him and left the next day. At first everything was wonderful. They woke in the morning, prayed, broke their fast and cleaned the camp, traveled throughout the day (even eating their lunch in the saddle), stopping an hour or so before twilight, setting up camp, sparring with swords until dark, cooking dinner, and maintaining their gear (all the while continuing with their lessons), and then going to sleep.

Then they arrived at the borderlands. Orcs had already destroyed the villages and smaller towns in the region. Refugees packed the walled town of Falconshead, the largest town in the area. Sir Heart was in council with the mayor of the town, the local Bishop Father Gabriel, and a few prominent members of the citizenry within a few short hours of his arrival.

Their news was grim. Someone or something had united the orcs, hobgoblins, and other creatures that live in the wild lands. They formed an army, devastating in their strength and numbers. Several skirmishes had been fought already. The humans had lost most of these. Sir Heart interviewed several of the militia and local foresters. According to them, the enemy host numbered in the thousands. Sir Heart knew that the town would soon fall and determined to save as many people as he could. He dispatched a messenger to the King and the Bishop with the grim news; the borderlands are lost.

Sir Heart took command of the town and all who dwelled within it. He made the mayor and other local prominent men his lieutenants and set about organizing the people. He started evacuation plans immediately. He had all the old, infirm, and those otherwise unable to walk loaded into wagons and carts. Whatever space was left was filled with food, water, and bandages. People who wanted to bring valuables with them had to carry them on their backs.

Thaddeus organized the foresters under a woodsman named Lucian and set them to scout out the enemy and to harass them should they approach the town. The local militia and those men physically capable he made guards for the caravan of refugees. Those with experience he made into the rear guard as that is the place most likely to be attacked.

They headed south as fast as they could travel. They averaged almost 12 miles a day over pretty rough terrain. The woodsmen under Lucian fought bravely, leading the enemy into ambushes and traps, killing them by the score. But there were too many of them and the men could not halt their forward progress. Lucian had to withdraw his men completely when the orcs went after them with Warg Riders. Instead of harassing the enemy and killing them, they became the hunted.

The main army attacked Falconshead only to discover that everyone had left a week beforehand. Enraged, they marched after the refugees. After a few days it became apparent that the orcs could never catch the refugees because the army moved too slow, so they dispatched 200 hobgoblins, larger and able to travel much faster than their orc brothers, to destroy the refugees.

The refugees had almost two weeks of travel behind them when the hobgoblins attacked. The hobgoblins were smarter than Sir Heart had hoped and attacked the caravan in the flank instead of the rear. They withdrew quickly, only to attack again a short time later at the head of the caravan. Men, women, and children died in each attack. Thaddeus knew that if the caravan stopped, the main body of orcs would catch up and no one would survive. He dispatched several riders requesting military aid from the local Baron, who happens to be Deimos' father. Laban of Ironhold personally led his mounted horse, 200 strong, to the caravan's rescue. The hobgoblins were intimidated by the show of force and retreated back to the main army.
Laban soon discovered that his son Deimos was one of the people whose lives he had just saved. He also discovered that his son, who he had given to the church, had found his way into the knighthood. This made him extremely proud and happy. He escorted the caravan to his home and put up as many as he could into the fortress of Ironhold. The others were given rooms, food, and medical aid in the town, all expenses paid by the baron.

Sir Heart explained the situation to the baron and advised the baron to remove all non-combatants to a safer location. Laban was slightly skeptical, after all, this wasn't a small frontier town. He did give all those who wanted to leave an escort of 50 mounted soldiers.

Laban sent out criers to draw up the local militia and sent scouts to find the enemy army. He also outfitted his son Deimos with scale armour sized to fit him that used to be his brother Mathew's and required very little adjusting.

Sir Heart decided to stay with the baron. He wanted a good look at the enemy before sending any further reports. Deimos was excited to be heading into battle, he had missed all of the fighting that had occurred earlier. The attacks had been so swift that neither Deimos or Sir Heart had a chance to join battle before the attack was over. Deimos would also be fighting alongside his father and older brother. He was determined to make them proud. Sir Heart bowed to Baron Laban's leadership, but made Deimos his second. Deimos responded well to this and soon impressed people with his leadership abilities. So much so, that when his father decided to include him in the war councils, he was welcomed warmly by all those present.

The scouts returned within a few days time and reported that the enemy army would be upon them within the week. They also reported that the army numbered in the tens of thousands and included several races and tribes that hated each other. There seemed to be very little infighting and the hopes that the army would fall apart over time gave over to the hope that they would survive the battle.

Laban evacuated all non-combatants at this time and fortified the town gates and walls. He assigned leaders to various sections of the defense. After conferring with Sir Heart, he even assigned a small contingent of men to Deimos with orders to hold a small side gate that lead out to the river.

Deimos had twenty men under his command at the age of 13. They were farmers, untrained and undisciplined. In the four days that he had them, he made sure that they all had shortsword, spears, shields, and knives, and taught them how to use the weapons. He also taught them simple formations and roleplayed out several combat situations. As busy as they were with other preparations, Laban, Thaddeus, and Mathew were all very impressed with young Deimos' preparations.

Deimos also gathered up as many caltrops as he could and ordered his men to do the same. Each man kept a large pouch full of them on his belt. During the hobgoblin attacks Deimos had notices that the evil humanoids had no footgear...

When the army attacked, it was without strategy or tactical thinking. The orc army was so huge that its sheer numbers beat down the defenders. The humans were able to hold out for several hours under the onslaught, but eventually had to fall back under the pressure. The orcs climbed over their own dead to scale the walls. Once inside, the slaughter began.

Sir Heart, Baron Laban, and Mathew each fought and killed as they retreated. Deimos stayed longer as he played out trap after trap against the enemy until finally, his loses were too much and he also had to retreat. They made it to the castle and sealed the doors.

They watched as the orcs destroyed the town and listened to the screams of the men that the orcs had captured. The orc army kept coming from the forest to the north, steadily growing in size and strength. A few days of this passed and those inside the castle lost all hope of being able to withstand the attack on the castle when it came. They decided that retreating was the only option left. They mounted their horses and charged out into the horde. Baron Laban of Ironhold, his sons Mathew and Deimos, and Sir Heart led the charge. The orcs were taken by surprise and put up a token resistance. Still, three quarters of the men died in the charge. The others all made it to safety, although some of them died because of injuries sustained during the ride.

They arrived at Caspian battle-scarred and weary. Mathew stayed behind with the troops as their leader. He also spoke with the mayor, town council, and those nobles and prominent townsfolk as was deemed necessary. Baron Laban, Deimos, and Sir Heart pushed on for the capital.

Deimos' first trip to the capital was a hasty affair. Dead tired from traveling so far in such a short time, he was given very little respite. After an audience with the king, they were shown to their rooms. The next day they met with the king and his advisors. Plans were made and discarded. Finally, the king made his decision. As Baron Laban of Ironhold had lost his barony, the king placed him in charge of the northern army and ordered him to hold back the orc horde. Meanwhile, the king dispatched Messengers to the neighboring kingdoms, the navy, and the Eastern Army, advising them of the situation and asking for assistance.

Laban took his new troops and headed back north. Sir Heart and Deimos made their report to the Cardinal and awaited further orders. The Cardinal took Sir Heart's report with a large grain of salt and dispatched fifty knights, over half of whom had squires, and including Sir Heart and young Deimos, to Caspian. Sir Heart was second in command to Sir Vincent Blood.

Sir Blood was an extremely seasoned campaigner who Sir Heart knew by reputation. He quickly commanded Sir Heart's respect and proved his worth by debriefing Sir Heart and Deimos and planning thouroughly before setting out for Caspian. They arrived at the northern capital just before the orcs did.

Baron Laban fought a losing war of attrition against the enemy over the next year. Within that time the King sent his entire Northern Army, half of his Eastern Army and his Borderlanders to battle with the orcs. The humans battled orcs and other creatures that numbered in the millions. Eventually Caspian fell and the army retreated back to the Capital. The King called in the rest of the Eastern Army and the Southern Army. Due to his hard earned military expertise, Baron Laban was officially declared the Grand General of the combined armies, the first in over three hundred years. The King used the navy to help move troops and harass the enemy. Sir Heart and Deimos fought and led on every front.

The king commandeered the merchant ships and private vessels in the bay for the evacuation of the refugees and the transportation of supplies. Soon, it became obvious that the city would fall. The King stayed, keeping his court with him. But all too soon, all that was left was the a desperate remnant of soldiers, both men and women, who had been fighting for the last two years. They retreated to the King's Castle and fought bitterly.

Deimos' eldest brother Mathew fell at Caspian. Of his brother Tomas, there is no word. He is MIA and assumed dead as well. General Laban made Deimos his heir instead. Sir Heart assumes command after Sir Blood falls. General Laban and Sir Oak knight Deimos on the last night before the castle falls after Sir Heart dies in battle. Sir Deimos is given command of a small boat of refugees and ordered out of the castle. He is to take with him written documents detailing the fall of Caspian and the capital, tactics, strategies and other intelligence gathered on the enemy, and the journals, letters, and wills of those who had died or didn't think that they would make it to give to the Vatican.

Sir Deimos had been on several raids using the naval ships and has a rudimentary knowledge of sailing. A few of the refugees also had knowledge of sailing and navigation. Together, they made their way across the bay and out to open water. They stared back at the city as the wind drew them further away. The horizon glowed red and could be seen for miles as the city burned...


At this time Sir Deimos of Ironhold is almost 16 years old. The last three years have been in almost constant combat. He is tall and strong, standing 5'10 and weighing in at about 190 lbs. His shoulder length brown hair is cut raggedly as if by a knife (it was) and his blue eyes have seen far too much of battle. He has several small scars but has never been seriously wounded in battle. Sir Heart tried to teach him as much academic knowledge as possible, but Sir Deimos has been very unfortunate in that regard, having spent the last few years at war. After seeing so many good people die and seeing eveils creatures like orcs win, Deimos is starting to question his faith. He is confused and emaotionally scarred but he has taken a vow to see these missives delivered to the Council of Bishops and to the well being of those few left under his command. He has also vowed to regain the lands stolen from his family by the orcs. He looks forward to seeing his mother and sister in the emperor's city.