Beachside Defenses And You!

Ever since the attack by the Palace Lands, Kaydon had been going to various beaches in Yamato and scouting, looking for places to set up defenses. It was impossible to blockade everywhere, after all this was an island, but he had to figure out the best places to do it.

The beach he had set up on now was not far from Shibuya, the town run by the New World Alliance and headquarters of Silver Sword. He had been thinking how best to protect his own people first and foremost. At present, he was standing on a bluff near the sand, looking out over the water, picturing it with spike traps and catapults. Or maybe some madchine gun emplacements and pillboxes. If they'd only let him invent gunpowder..

The Were Fang lion had been traveling. Since the attack, he had been going around and providing assistance where he could, or tried to sniff out any incoming attacks. Wandering was his way, and he seldom stayed anywhere long, but it seemed that that soon would come to an end.

Beaches were always his favorite place, both in the past and now, and he went to the beach anytime he felt restless and in need to ground himself. His armor is almost practically swimwear, being adapted from female armor by the inventory system (it was originally a mistake in choice, but afterwards he decided to roll with it as a joke, and eventually found out that he enjoyed the aesthetic with the fur), so he usually only needed to discard the greaves and the chestplate in order to take a refreshing dip.

Usually, he liked being alone, but he was always a curious sort. Espying someone standing on the bluff, the lion makes his way there instead of the water.

"You seem to be in a contemplative mood," he says with a smirk to the stranger. A bit of an impertinent greeting, perhaps, but he usually is in a good mood, and isn't a stickler for formalities.

It's a bit of a surprise to hear a voice call out to him, and Kaydon turns his muzzled head to look at the lion. A quick inspect shows him not only as a friendly but in the same guild, "Ah, well. Trying to figure out the best way to defend us against a full scale invasion.." He muses, "So far all their attacks have been more raider style. A small group, hitting easy targets." He rubs the undersize of his muzzle with a hand, "I don't know if they plan on launching a full scale invasion or not. We need intel. But it's hard to place a spy in someone's ranks when a simple push of a button will tell you who they are.."

"And capturing someone is a bit on the tricky side, isn't it?" the lion crosses his arms over his broad chest and joins Kaydon's side, staring over at the ocean. "And even then, getting them to talk wouldn't really be the easiest thing in the world. So if you can't change their approach, you can change the target. You can make a summation of the targets they've attacked and from that, extrapolate what other likely targets they will hit."

He turns to Kaydon, "Stash forces in the vicinity with a skeleton crew in each potential target. When they hit the target, you can surround the target and trap them. Then, they're sitting ducks."

"Not a bad idea. But it would help if we could know where they're striking.." He hmms and sits down on the bluff, dangling his legs over the edge, "That...Or give them a target so enticing that they can't possible resist." But what could that target be? So far everything he's seen from the Palace Lands has been violence and chaos with no real method to the madness, "Sorry I'm being rude. I'm Kaydon. We haven't really had the chance to talk, have we?"

"Not really. I usually don't stick around long enough to get to know people." He sits down next to Kaydon, one leg dangling over the edge, one foot up on the edge and an elbow resting on his knee. "Nice to meet you, Kaydon. I'm Gallant," he gives his fellow Fang a grin, "It seems that current affairs are bringing my wandering ways to an end. Can't exactly be a carefree wanderer in a war-torn world."

"I'm not one to force folks into doing stuff they don't want." Kaydon says, "At least not our folks.." He sighs, "If I could get my hands on a Palace Lander or two, maybe I would.." He punches his open palm with a fist, making a hefty thud, "You know I used to sell myself as a mercenary. Working for the highest price. But that's kind of gone to the wayside too. Seems everybody's world is changing."

"So you are saying that there is no price the Palace could pay to buy you?" The feline says with a playful grin, and looks over to the water. "That's a lot of money they could cough up. And then you'd be in the service of Queen Lardface Tooraloo, or whatever her name is."

He knows exactly what her name is. He simply enjoys making fun of her name. The lion glances at the Were and hms, "You're a big guy, I bet you're pretty terrifying in a fight, too."

"Well during the initial ambush I did carve one of their players in half." Kaydon says, with a faint chuckle, "I don't know what their deal is. Honetstly diplomacy has never been my strong suit, so I wasn't really paying attention to the dealings with them. I thought 'Hey cool, new lands to check out.' If I'd had any inkling that they'd declare war on us I'd have put my foot down then."

Kaydon sighs a little as he looks over the lion, "So that armor actually protects you? I could get you something a little more durable if you want, even though I'm more of a bladesmith."

Gallant laughs and tosses his mane back, "This? It has plenty of protection! You see a lot of female players running around in this, so-" the lion shrugs, "It protects me as well as it does them. I put it on by mistake when I first landed here, but since then..." he glances down at it and grins, "I kinda like it. It's breezy and comfortable. It's flattering. And it's definitely a bit of intimidation, too. You wear something like this, people might think twice about attacking because you telegraph that maybe you're a little harder to hurt."

He leans back on his hands, "Which isn't technically true, but a good amount of strategy is to keep people guessing." He glances over at Kaydon.

"You heard word of that 'sheriff' going around trying to arrest people? I haven't run into him yet. You?"

"Just recently." Kaydon replies, "Seems like he's a bit outside of his jurisdiction though. Somebody should 187 him." Kaydon hasn't had the bad luck of running into the sheriff yet, but no doubt will be quite fed up once he does.

"At least they don't gender restrict items like that. But if it works for you, who am I to stop you. I've changed up my armor a few times here...Occsaionally going for a viking look."

"You should try my armor, if only because it would look incredibly amusing on someone of your frame!" the lion chuckles, "But I admit the Viking look is a good one. Not very good for sneaking through the underbrush- the horny helmet catches on low-hanging branches."

Swinging his leg a little, he says "You know. We could go out hunting for him and sending him packing back to his queen. Send a message. We could wrap him up in ribbons and send him back to Palace in the back of a cart." He grins, and then he grows a little more serious.

"But part of the defense force could be forming bands and patrol ourselves. Train together, have groups learn to act as single units. I mean, I was at the beach the other day when the Leviathan passed by, and as an impromptu group a bunch of us were able to beat the creatures back just fine. Think of what we could do as a unified front. I'm aware we all have our little groups and our little cliques. But that might prove too be too fractioned to provide a response strong enough to send Her Majesty packing."

"You're not wrong." Kaydon says, though he clarifies, "About forming actual units. But most of these folks are still, well.." He hmfs, and shakes his head, "It's not easy to whip a bunch of people together and turn them into a cohesive unit, especially with some of the conflicting personalities. Scale Emblem or Olympus may have an easier time doing that."

He sighs a little bit, "They've already got a lot organized with their tower runs. But their skill at the tower won't help us with this." Then after a moment, "Got an extra set of that armor for someone to wear?"

"Sure. I always keep spares. An old compulsion. I used to keep-" he pauses, and then shrugs, "Habit." He opens a trade window to offer one of his copies. "I know what you mean- a lot of strong personalities. At the beach, I kind of felt everybody was in their own lane, so getting cohesion is going to take some effort. But maybe that's the overworld challenge we have to face in return for getting the new lands?"

Kaydon takes the offered trade, and gets the outfit in his inventory, "The thing is that these are players, not just Landers." Kaydon muses, as he swaps outfits so he matches Gallant, "What do you think?" He asks, as he shows it off for a second, "I feel kinda silly in this outfit to be honest. But you know, it works for you."

Gallant chuckles, "I like it! Of course, the ratio is different. You're, like, twice as broad as I am and much taller. But I think it looks good. Nine tenths of it is attitude- if you wear it like a king, nobody questions it." Gallant winks, "I certainly wouldn't question it. And the upside of this armor is that if you get wicked tattoo skins, you can show them off and look intimidating."

He glances over at the edge, and grabs a pebble to throw over it.

"So the question is- how does one win the hearts and minds of players on our side to get them to work together, and demoralize the rest? That's the right question, no?"

There is actually a tattoo visible on Kaydon's arm, embedded in the fur. It looks like a burning wreath of flame, "Speaking of which." Kaydon says, as he hmms a little, before rising up to his feet, "That is the right question, yes." He replies, "Survival is not enough. And the Palace Lands mean to destroy more than just us. It's the People of the Land that they wontonly slaughter that we need to care for."

Gallant also rises to his feet. Then he extends a hand and runs a fingertip along the burning wreath tattoo, and says "Oh, that's cool," he says, "Is there a story behind it?" He takes a step back to take the Were Fang in, and nods.

"You've got good intentions, and I like that. Maybe we can put our heads together," he grins, "And try to figure out how we can protect the people of the Land. And maybe find others who want to find an answer. A self-imposed quest, if you will."

"It's a relic." Kaydon replies, as he digs into his inventory for a moment to pull out his smithing sledgehammer. The tattoo suddenly glows red hot, and the heat channels into the head of the hammer, "Lets me move metal without any trouble at all, and without the need of a forge." He says, with a little grin. After it disappates, he puts the hammer away, "I'll take you up on that Gallant. We'll work together to figure out how to help the people. Even if it means helping them to defend themselves."

"Oh, that's an awesome relic. I... haven't had a chance to get one," he says, a tinge of self-consciousness in his voice. "But... only a matter of time, right?"

The lion leans in and, in lieu of putting an arm around Kaydon, he puts an arm around his broad back, and gestures: "Picture it- Kaydon and Gallant save the realm!" the lion grins, "We'll get people whipped up and shaped up. We'll have a training montage." He glances at the beach, "Where are you staying, by the way? I usually juset set up a campsite on the road."

"I've got a room at Silver Sword HQ." Kaydon says, "Back in Shibuya. If you haven't been to the HQ you should check it out at least once." He motions in the general direction of the town, "Maybe tag along? I need to head back that way and try to find Shiruba anyway.."

"Sounds like a plan." Gallant dusts off his hands and he gives the beach one final glance, before turning in the direction Kaydon suggested, "Why are you trying to find Shibura, anyways? Are you ... on a quest?" he intentionally makes his voice sound deeper, his way of speaking in large letters. "Oh. While we're at it-" he fiddles with his menu briefly, to send him a friend request. "Figured that if we have to split up, we can still keep in touch for coordination purposes."

He chuckles at Kaydon, glancing at the armor, "We're already coordinated anyways."

He starts walking, but slowly enough to walk in step with Kaydon. "We should spar soon, so we start getting to know each other's styles. Makes us tight unit."

"What? No it's not a quest. She's in charge of day to day operations for Silver Sword. And also a friend of mine." He replies, "Plus she's the one that pays me. Still a mercenary at heart."

Kaydon takes the offered friend request and makes it official, "For sure. I'm always down for a sparring match..Even if I wouldn't enter the big tournament they have every year. Hopefully they'll still have it next year, assuming we deal with the Palace Lands first."

"Pffft. Rest assured, it'll be there next year. Our meeting was fated under the stars, there are greater things at motion than you and I can fathom, and the threads of fate are busy weaving themselves."

Does he believe all of this? It's hard to tell, with that debonair attitude and the slight edge of mischief.

"We've got a bit of a journey ahead, we'll probably need to camp at some point if we don't make good time. That's okay- I'm good at camping!" He grins and begins to walk faster.