Not a character history, but a good story to help get to know him a bit better. Brief Backstory can be found
here.
Kerberos gazed across the wide valley. As he watched, a gentle breeze whisked across his body. The cold wind swept the snow across the valley creating a sparkling dance across the early morning sky. He clenched the pommel of his spatha with his right hand, and eventually rest it on the top. Kerberos though intently as he looked down the moderately sloped valley. His brow tightened as he thought hard about what to do next.
The tall man had donned all of his armor except his helm. He bore a fine suit of golden segmentata, complete with greaves, large leather boots covering his feet and steel bracers and gauntlets over his arms. The plated suit was complemented with red leather underneath and a chain skirt. The soldier towered just over 6 feet in height. Slender for his imposing height however, not to be mistaken for weakness. The fighter had been a soldier since he was 14, and before that lived off of the wilderness. Kerberos? long night black hair blew gently across his face as he looked down the hill. At the bottom of the snow covered valley, small fires glowed faintly. In the dancing shadows of the fires Kerberos could make out the obscure shadows of several tents formed up around them. He could see the horses tied up along side the encampment.
?Calvary,? he though to himself. From the partially visible colors in front of a few of the tents, he could recognize the blue and yellow as Grabentod. Kerberos knew he had to act quickly, before the morning sun rose. These men didn?t look like the expeditionary force he had been told about. These men were no thinkers, they were definitely solders, and even if there were some surveyors in the squad, they were well protected. Regardless, they were the target and he had a job to do.
As the snowfall picked up he knew it was going to get cold. The temperature had dropped several degrees since he?d been awake. The increasing wind didn?t help either. Kerberos started the walk back to his camp. He was going to have to wake his men up early this morning, even after he?d said they might get a decent sleep. ?Hmmph.? he said aloud. ?They just marched 35 miles across the Yuleprech mountains? he thought to him self. ?A little more wont kill em.?
Kerberos followed his footsteps back to the encampment, about five hundred yards from where he had been scouting. The camp was a very small one. Only one, nearly exhausted fire burned in the center, of about thirty tents. Only the rookies were brought on this trip. The amount of time they had to execute the mission and the terrain of the mountains would slow the entire unit considerably. Besides, it wasn?t needed and the old bloods need a break. Kerberos gave a grim smile as he entered the camp. He knew the boys would get some good practice today.
He opened the door of one of the tents and looked down at his second in command snoring heavily. Walking up beside the sleeping beast he landed a square nudge in the torso of the man with his right boot. Startled the man quickly sat up and looked at Kerberos.
?What! Can?t you see I?m tryen to sleep here??
?Time to get up? Kerberos stated, ?Its going to be a long day?
Kerberos walked to the tent across from the one he?d exited and proceeded inside. A large man lay sleeping soundly. The man, Fox, as he is known to the solders, was almost motionless as he lay. At about five and a half feet and nearly two hundred pounds, Kerberos was almost reluctant to wake him.
?Fox, get up, we got work to do.? the commander said with a stern voice.
The large, muscular man rolled over an looked up at his commander. ?Ok, Ok, just let me get dressed?
?Hurry up, get the boys up and get me some coffee. I want the camp up in 30 minutes.?
? Yes sir? Fox replied.
?And you?d better be 5 minutes early!? Kerberos shouted as he left the tent.
Kerberos had walked across the camp and entered his own tent. The large hovel had a fire place complete with a table, two small stools and a bed. After stirring the small fire in the center of the tent beside his square table, he sat down and unrolled a map. As he examined the map his second in command walked in.
?Here?s some coffee? the soldier offered as he sat down on the other stool. Kerberos in the mean time was marking out locations of the camp he had observed earlier in the morning. ?I see you?ve been busy this morning? the soldier said.
?Yea Leonidas, I?ve been doing some early morning scouting.? Kerberos replied.
?Well, what do you got for me then?? Leonidas replied.
?Their calvary, Grabentod as well.?
?Well they didn?t mention that to us.?
?There?s more? Kerberos interrupted as he pointed to the map. ?If in fact they are calvary, and Grabentod, there gonna be elite, especially for this kind of job.? He pointed his finger at another point of the map. ?Here, is the best place to attack I believe. It is away from he horses so we will get a few extra seconds before we alert everyone. Secondly, If they are calvary were going to have to attack immediately, before they mount up. If they find us or we hit them when they are mounted we are going to have a lot more problems.?
?The only thing I don?t like? Leonidas said as he looks at the narrow passage that Kerberos pointed out ?is we are going to be cramped up. They could easily bottle us up there.?
?This Is true, but anything short of running down the slope here, is going to give them plenty of time to catch us.? Kerberos replied.
?How steep is it?? Leonidas asked.
?To seep to run down; the only way it would work is if we snuck down until the very end.?
Leonidas stood up, briefly looked outside and said ?lets do it. They need the practice anyway.?
*******
?Form up!? Fox shouted as the unit gathered around the fire. Kerberos and Leonidas were standing at the front facing their men, evaluating their every move.
?Alright boys,? Kerberos said loudly so that everyone could hear. ?Were about to engage these guys and it looks like they are calvary.?
?What were going to do,? Leonidas filled in. ?is move QUIETLY? he emphasized ? down a slope over yonder, then break out at the bottom.?
?I don?t want anyone screwing this up? Kerberos stated. ?Stay down and Stay quiet. Now get ready to move!?
The unit, comprising of about 60 solders, mostly whom have not been in many major conflicts moved southward, toward the bottom of the hill. When the had arrived at the slope overlooking the valley, and encampment below. The sun was just peaking above the horizon. ?Were late? Kerberos thought as they moved into position. He could not recognize any major movements down below in the camp. The unit, all fully donned in complete segmentata, solid black, crept down the large hill with their massive round shields gliding in front.
?Your group go left, and mine will head right? Kerberos whispered to Leonidas as they snaked down the slope. ?I want noone to live.?
Leonidas gave a understanding nod as he moved with his group down the hill.
They had moved about two-thirds down the long slope when Fox decided to scan the camp again. He wanted to make sure they were not getting spotted as they made this advancement, in almost complete daylight now. As he scanned the encampment he eyes stopped suddenly. A man, who was previously working on what looks like the squad?s breakfast suddenly rushed away from his duties behind several tents. A snap of his head, Fox seen the man fanatically run inside a tent. He came out suddenly and pointed toward his unit.
?Oh crap,? he said out loud.
Kerberos was cautiously examining his own men to assure they did not * this up and get everyone killed. The last thing he wanted was to lay on some hillside with an arrow in his stomach, he already was having a bad day.
?Captain!? Fox shouted so loud that many of the other solders looked over at him. Kerberos angerly snapped his head over to Fox to see what was going on.
?We?ve been spotted? Fox said again, loudly, and motioned his head to the camp. Sure enough, what looks like the captain of the squad was moving fanatically across the camp. This is going to be a really long day. Kerberos thought to himself. He stood up, straitened his helm, and shouted ?MOVE!? so loud that he?d probably woken the enemy camp.
The unit began to rush down the hill, eventually breaking into a full run. Kerberos readied his shield as he approached the bottom, preparing for the onslaught. Once at the bottom of the hill, the charging men were just several yards from the camp.
?Sons of Ares!? Kerberos shouted his battlecry ?Bring them Death!?
As he crossed the first tents, a few solders were wearing armor, possibly the watch, were waiting to meet them. No matter, they would all be in hell soon.
Kerberos readied his shield for the impact. Drew his spatha for the hit and then collided into the first of the watch. Without a shield the watch folded as Kerberos hit him square in the chest with his massive round shield. As the man fell backward Kerberos overstepped him and thrust his sword into the solder. As he scanned the camp, Kerberos quickly ducked behind his shield as an crossbow bolt whizzed past his head, striking one of his solders behind him. Two more struck his shield.
The solders, as professional as they are, were no match for him without their armor. A parry, duck, slash; all who crossed him fell swiftly. Kerberos was not concentrating on this rabble however, he was looking for someone specifically. The surveyor, his job was to kill the surveyors. Noone else mattered.
In his error, though, Kerberos walked across a tent he had not looked into. Bursting out was a grizzly man who swung an axe straight into his shield. The incredible blow knocked Kerberos off his feat sending him onto the ground. Prone, he quickly dropped his shield and hurried to his feat. Meanwhile the man grabbed a sword laying next to him and rushed Kerberos. Still on his back Kerberos frantically parried the whirlwind of attacks thrown at him by this giant of a man. Finally gaining a split second window, Kerberos kicked the man in the knee, giving him enough time to quickly stand up. The man retaliated with a sweeping swing to the Kerberos? side, only to be parried. Kerberos however was thrown off balance by the massive swings of this man. One after another, they kept coming, unrelenting and unstopping. The anger in this soldier burned as his eyes lit up in fire of hatred. A large overhead cleave, at Kerberos? head cough the tip of his helm as he ducked the blow, throwing it off of his head. Disoriented, he fell to the ground on his knees. Kerberos couldn?t think. It was to hard and there was not enough time, so he instinctively thrust upward with his spatha. He felt something, as his eyes cleared he seen the angry look of the barbarian turn to pain as he fell to the ground. Embedded deeply into the man?s lower chest, Kerberos withdrew the sword and slowly stood up.
He looked around and saw Fox running toward him.
?Are you alright? he said helping Kerberos come to his senses.
?Yea, take out those archers on the edge of the camp, they are causing too much trouble?
?Yes sir? Fox replied as he took two others and rushed in the direction he was told.
Kerberos rushed to the other side of the camp, only encountering two enemies as he passed, and despatched both of them efficiently. Finding Leonidas he approached the warrior.
?Were is the surveyor??
?Nicalos found their tents and killed them. We are just finishing up the rest of the calvary now.? Leonidas informed.
?Alright good? Kerberos said.
When the fighting died down he walked about the camp, examining it more closely. Fox approached him with the death count and wounded report. ?What shall we do with the camp sir?? Fox said as he surveyed the damage. The leader of the mercenaries slowly looked around at his bounty. His golden armor was now stained in blood of those he took it from. The warrior looked at Fox and simply ordered:
?Burn it?[url][/url]
"It is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory"
-Sun Tzu-