Queen's Guard of Andor  

Justice Served

By Timbal al'Kaden

The latest patrol of Andor had been a long and arduous one. It seemed that the leagues slowed down with each passing, but the patrol was almost done now.

As he travelled through the little town of 4 Kings he heard a whimpering cry off in an alley. Dismounting from his horse and checking various weapons in their sheathes he walked over to the alley to investigate.

He saw a young woman huddled in the corner, seemingly crying to herself. Walking over to her, he asked "What's wrong?". The woman looked up at him and tried to cringe further back into the corner than she already was.

Not wanting to alarm her too much more, Timbal took a step back and said "I'm here to help, but you must tell me what's wrong." The woman stopped her crying and stood up straight as she looked him in the eyes. "Your braids are very nice, Guard, but I think they would look better on me, no?"

That was all the warning Timbal needed. Ducking the blow he could sense was coming, he spun around and swung his fist upwards. The heavy metal of his gauntlet met a man's jaw and the crunch of broken bone and teeth was a most rewarding one.

The man lifted into the air and promptly fell on his back, clutching his ruined jaw, but there were 4 more "strongarms" behind him. Evaluating the situation, Timbal knew he was going to have to play this right, or they would be plotting his burial in the Queen's Guard cemetary.

Taking a stance that had him facing the wall he was able to watch both the woman and the other men with his peripheral vision. Loosing his gigantic axe from the sheath he wore, he held it in front of him at the ready, muscles flexing with the weight of it.

When he saw the first man move, he spun to his right towards them, sweeping his axe across the width of the alleyway. The axe met with resistance as it sliced through the man's waist. The blood splatter marred Timbal's polished armor but blended in perfectly with his red cloak and tabard.

Continuing in his spin he twisted the handle of the axe slightly so the flat of the axe slammed into the charging woman, knocking her to the back of the alley with a resounding crunch.

As he turned to meet the other 3 attackers, they were all on him at once. There was no room to maneuver his huge axe, so he dropped it and pulled out 2 of his daggers.

Holding them blade down, he crouched in a battlestance. Without warning he charged at the man on the right and the weight of the armor sent the man crashing into the wall. Timbal ducked, and turning to his right used the dagger in his left hand to slice open the man's belly and completing his turn plunged the dagger in his right hand into the kneecap of the man in the middle.

Scanning the battlefield quickly he saw the woman unconscious still in the back of the alley, one man with a ruined jaw, one trying to push his entrails back into his stomach, one clutching his ruined knee, one that had decided to "split", and the last man facing him, not looking so sure of himself now.

Timbal approached him with dagger in hand and the man turned tail and fled down the alleyway. Not wanting to let scum like this roam free in Andor, Timbal tossed the dagger up in the air with his left hand, caught the blade in his right and threw hard.

The dagger struck the man in the base of the skull with such force it threw him forward a good foot or two. Nodding in satisfaction, Timbal turned around to look at the wounded men on the ground. 1...2...3...4...where's the fifth one? The one with the ruined jaw was missing. Hit from being, Timbal stumbled, trying to keep himself on his feet, for trying to stand up in full plate mail from the ground certainly took time.

Turning around, he saw the sneering man, missing many teeth, scrambling up from the ground where he had landed after dropkicking Timbal in the back. It would appear he also knows how long it takes to get up in full plate.

Turning towards him and taking off his helmet, Timbal readied himself, his grappling training coming to mind and he felt confident he would win.

The man struck out at him with his right fist but expecting it, Timbal leaned to the left, dodging the blow. Grabbing the man's outstretched right wrist, he pulled it towards him while at the same time slamming his left forearm into the back of the man's incoming forearm.

Metal armor met bone and the sharp crack of the man's arm as bone jutted out the other side was met with screams of excruciating pain. Punching him in the back of the head with his heavy gauntlet he knocked the man out cold and went to do the same with the man that had the ruined knee.

Tying the 3 remaining bandits up, he went to gather some help from the law enforcement in the area and got them to round up the criminals. 3 heads were posted at the edge of town as warning to those who would commit a crime in Andor, and 3 criminals were to be transported to Caemlyn at the earliest possible time to be tried for attempted murder of a Queen's Guard.

Finally arriving into his office, Timbal sighed at the paperwork he knew he would have to write regarding this incident, but it was best to get it out of the way.

Sitting down, he began to write.

My latest patrol of Andor had been an arduous one...