Hear me roar.

[Rhalius]

In the meanwhile, the Blue Shadow managed to knock out a tower guard and stays hidden, while the crowd goes wild at the unexpected turn of events in the arena.

He seems to be waiting for the right moment to strike.. What is he up to?

But the rhino is slowly getting closer to the chariot.
Prince Edward: "Faster! he is moving closer!"
Frederick: "I am doing the best I can!"

General Secundus: "This is a disgrace, they stole my chariot!"
General Tertius: "Well the crowd loves it,  I rarely saw them this exited!"
Emperor Tiberius: "They laugh at my weakness, I should have those traitors tossed in the arena with them!"
General Tertius: "Surely they are only focused on this chase and don't doubt your greatness, my emperor?"
Emperor Tiberius: "Well I will remind them of their place! General Primus, send in the best legionaires to finish off these knights!"

General Primus: "Just a moment, it may not be needed after all, look!"
And indeed, the raging rhino rams the side of the chariot, causing it to fall over!

Nobody is seriously hurt, but everyone struggles to get back up, they are at the rhino's mercy!

Henry is quick to jump in to distract the rhino.

Henry: "Get over here you oversized unicorn! I challenge you! Waagh!"
The noise he makes seems to draw the rhino's attention.
Sir Sigurd: "I warned you not to interfere! Now you will face me."

Henry looks to his right at the slowly approaching rhino, and then to his left at the angry copper knight. What trouble did he get himself into?

Henry: "Listen, just calm down your rhino and no one needs to get hurt, yes?"
Sir Sigurd: "Perhaps, but the emperor does want a good show.."
Henry: "Well you can fight me and my friends, just friendly sparring. We will give it our best."
Sir Sigurd: "Alright I am listening.."

While the others get back on their feet, suddenly the sound of a flying arrow draws everyone's attention!


((What will the target be? The story continues tomorrow!))

[Macruran]

This is really well crafted.

I will say though that a different captioning system would put the images into a different class.

[Birdie]

Fantastic! 

The posing on the gladiator looking at the veredict is AMAZING!

Agreed  And that shot of the chariot with Frederick bursting into the arena!

I will say though that a different captioning system would put the images into a different class.

Yeah it would make things easier to read, for sure. More smoothly.

[Rhalius]

((sadly picture editing programs are a pain to work with for me so I'll have to stick to this caption system.))

Then panic ensues, as the emperor is struck by the arrow! His praetorian guards rush to his side but are too late!

Weakly, the emperor speaks his last words: "..Kill them.. all.."
General Tertius: "The emperor has been murdered!"
General Secundus: "grab that archer and bring him to me!"
General Primus: "Sigurd, kill those knights! They must be working with the assasin!"

And so the battle continues in the arena, the enraged Sigurd attacks Henry but Frederick is quick to come to his aid while Roderick keeps his eye on the rhino.

Sigurd: "I should have known you three cannot be trusted!"
Henry: "We have nothing to do with this!"
General Secundus: "Lies! I should come down there and kill you chariot thieves myself!"
General Primus: "No, we must secure the fort first!"
General Tertius: "No, we should tend to the emperor!"

Surrounded by enemies, the situation seems quite hopeless. This is not at all how the three friends imagined their visit to the romans.

Roderick: "I think I saw the assasin, he looked like the Blue Shadow! But he is in our prison, do you know anything about this Prince Edward?"
Prince Edward: "How would I know? I have been in prison here for months!"
Frederick: "We can talk about all that later, let's get out of here alive first!"
Sir Sigurd: "None of you will leave this arena alive!"

The Blue Shadow has to deal with the roman legion however, they all make their way to the tower to catch the assasin of their Emperor!


He managed to buy himself some time by barricading the hatch with a roman spear, the pilum, so that he can use is hook to make his escape.


A few vigilant romans spot him and throw their pilums at him.

But the Blue Shadow manages to narrowly avoid them as he jumps on his horse.

The praetorian guards arrive with more legionaires, but they can't hope to catch up to him on foot.

[Rhalius]

As they watch the assasin ride off into the distance, a distressed roman scout arrives on horseback.

Praetorian: "Scout, go after that man! he murdered the Emperor! We will grab our horses and be right with you!"
Scout: "My horse is exhausted, I rode as quickly as I could to bring you urgent news: The lion army is moving right towards us! They will be here soon!"
Praetorian guard: "What?! We must prepare for a siege then! Quickly, warn the generals!"

The generals have already left the arena to deal with the assasin, and the audience does no longer feel safe. The scout is quick to reach them and inform them of the situation.

General Tertius: "We should still go after the assasin, he can't get away with this!"
General Secundus: "I say we meet this Lion army in the field instead of cower behind walls!"
General Primus: "No, we should not give up our advantage! We will hold the fort!"
Divided without their emperor and all being of equal rank, the generals bicker about their course of action all the way to the castle.

A captain and a soldier have been left at the arena to make sure no one escapes.

While Sigurd is clearly the superiour swordsman, the three friends manage to hold their own against him by working together, while at the same time doing their best to avoid the rhino.

All involved in the arena however, are too caught up in their fight to hear the sounds of King Richard's approaching army.


Even still, the three generals are bickering about who should lead the defense!

General Primus: "Look, I captured this fort from the lion Prince, and I will defend it!"
General Secundus: "His army was not even at the fort that time, and its my legion that is stationed here!"
General Tertius: "And they already failed to protect the emperor, so clearly you are not fit to lead this defense!"

The roman civilians hiding in the castle fear for the worst as they can hear their bickering.

The local civilians left, its not their fight after all but the romans had hoped to find protection in the fort now that they feel all the locals are out to get them.

A new lion prince steps forth from the army, to lead them on.

Prince James: "For Alion and King Richard, we charge forward brave soldiers! Secure the castle and free Edward. Show them that the lion still has claws! To war!!"

And so it begins.

((The story will continue tomorrow.))

[Tiermann]

Wow, that's a lot of development for one episode! Tons going on there. Love the big unicorn!

Also have to point out the meta level of the three arguing generals of equal rank after the death of the emperor and the comparison to the Playmobil company board after the death of HOB. Don't know if that was intended or not but it echoes nicely for me.

[Macruran]

 

[Rhalius]

((I didnt intend to reference any specific situation, I just went with the familiar saying of having too many captains on a ship. Without a clear leader and all being of equal rank, things can often turn ugly when ego's clash.))

Soldiers already move with ladders to the walls while a special ballista is pushed forth.

Prince James: "Bring down that gate!"

The roman soldiers look in shock at the large army and its siege engines, but their captain manages to inspire them in the absence of their generals.

Roman captain: "Hold the line men, no matter what they throw at us, protect these walls! Don't let any of them get through! Strenght and honour!"

The flaming projectiles of the ballista make quick work of the wooden doors, but there is still a porticulis behind it.


Lion soldiers try to get onto the walls with ladders, but they can't get through the defense of the romans.


As the siege tower is pushed towards the porticulis to let the battering ram do its work, the roman legionaires are gathering behind it to form a last line of defense.


While the soldiers fight to get through the gate, the knights on horseback are send to the arena to ensure Prince Edward's safety.

[Rhalius]

Hopefully they will be in time, since the three friends  are fighting a losing battle against the more experienced copper knight.

Sir Sigurd: "You three fought well, I will grant you that but this ends now!"
Henry: "I can't.. keep him away.."
Roderick: "Get out of the way!"

Frederick and Edward manage to jump to the side as the big Rhino comes charging through and Henry manages to narrowly roll to the side as Sigurd gets trampled by his own rhino!


The rhino is stopped as it rams into the iron gates, breaking them open as he drops unconcious.

Henry: "That was close, is the copper knight..?"
Roderick: "He seems mostly alright, he is just unconcious."
Prince Edward: "Let us leave this place then, I hear a battle going on at the castle."
Frederick: "Maybe we can get out of here unnoticed then."

Captain: "Arm the gladiators, we will stop them here and now, even without the legion!"

Soldier: "Right away captain."

As the friends try to leave the arena with Prince Edward, a line of gladiators is blocking their path.

Captain: "Attack! Leave none standing!"

But the gladiators see an opportunity to regain their freedom, and turn on their captors!

Captain: "No! Obey your masters!"
Gladiator: "We are free now, as free as these knights, to go where we please!"
The three friends smile as they watch the gladiators reclaiming their freedom.

Continueing on their way, they encounter the Lion knights send to resque Prince Edward.

Prince Edward: "I See that my father has finally decided to come free me?"
Sir William: "He could not allow you to be executed in the arena, sire. The army was rallied the moment he heard of it."
Prince Edward: "If it where not for these three knights I would have been killed by a huge horned monster. The lot of you should to be ashamed! I expect better from the knights of Alion."
Sir William: "... Yes sire, I still remember their bravery in our earlier war with them.."
He also remembers the treachery of his prince that caused that war.

[Rhalius]

In the meanwhile, the battering ram has done its work, there is a breach! It seems the generals finally stopped their bickering, and General Primus is here to guard the gate.

General Primus: "Stand fast men! You are Romans! The finest soldiers the world has ever seen! This fortress will not be taken under my watch! Don't let a single one of these bumbling fools set foot inside these walls!"

On the outside, the battering ram is moved aside to let the troops pass through.

Prince James: "Charge forward men! For King and country!"

And the king himself stands proudly on top of the siege tower, looking with pride at his nephew who he made his new heir.

Royal guard: "The men are eager to fight, sire. They believe in Prince James."
King Richard: "Yes, he is there with them leading the charge. Soldiers tend to appreciate a leader who is there with them."
Royal Guard: "You don't regret leaving the command in his hands, sire?"
King Richard: "Not at all my friend. Front line fighting is for the young."

General Tertius however, sees the king on his tower as a beautifull target..

General Tertius: "They killed our emperor, we will kill their king! Fire when ready Marcus!"
Felix: "But my name is Felix."
General Tertius: "Just fire that ballista, soldier!"

Luckily for King Richard, his trusted guard saw the attack comeing and manages to block it with his shield!

King Richard: "That was close, exellent work!"
Royal guard: "Good thing they don't have heavier bolts, sire, let's get you off this tower."