Legend of Renalta 2: Reborn

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Esyllt Boudica - Goblin Holds​


Although Esyllt had experienced more of Amazonian culture than Child, she could not help but share her sentiment of confusion. Unamo's aggression was not befitting of a lady, or so she had been taught... But from what she'd seen in the jungle, the initiative surely befitted an Amazon.

Though from behind the mask came a tone of voice that did not resonate with Child's name. Esyllt did not think Child misunderstood the mortality of men, as this was her second mission as a blade. The lack of emotion was uncanny and unsettling. Was the weight of dealings with the dead lost on her? Esyllt asked herself as cold shivers crawled up her spine.

Fortunately, Aslo and Maeven agreed not to give into bloodlust. Esyllt chimed in and agreed. Though she fared well in the workings of golems, she knew little of mechanists. Maeven seemed to be key to this operation, if her presence did not gain them an advantage, it would at the very least provide some information. It was worth checking out.

Daevon had a point also, however... It was unlikely they were shot at by demons. Lest they be swarmed already, as any sentient foe would have been able to confirm their presence. “I concur, demons would not have left it at a warning shot. Had it been them, we would not be standing here.”

The traveled in the direction of the lights, Esyllt remained quite on guard however, expecting danger to roam around every corner. She routinely checked with her Frankenstein of a cat, but the calico had not found anything worth mentioning yet.

When two massive golems rose from the ground, Esyllt was both frightened and amazed. She instinctively raised her shield, not that it would stop much if one of the giants attempted to use force, but it made the golemancer feel somewhat safer. The golems, however, did not make a move. At least not yet. Their presence was looming over them, like the watchful eyes of the city's very own guard dogs... Yet something felt off about these dogs... The souls contained within the iron mechanisms were but shadows of the men they must had once been.

“If I may,” Esyllt prompted, stepping forward before Aslo could answer Nyla. “If I am to judge by the size and shape of these golems, they were made to intimidate. The larger you build a golem, the more difficult it becomes to balance. With forms like these they would have sustained more damage, if they reacted every small animal that lives underground. Given their purpose, I think that we would need a distraction at least the size of a goblin. I can provide one, if need be.”
 
Draza
Liveria, Ancestral Bonds

Stone cover requested, stone cover gained! Draza made haste to get behind it, particularly in the face of things like axes the size of her being lobbed about. Even if it didn't hit her direct, one of those would knock more than all the sweetness out of her if it managed to hit, and that would be no good. No good at all. So she took her cover, and looked around, feeling rather quite useless in the melee. She couldn't fight, but she could possibly help direct the others to fight as she had before. This was just a much more intense, and dangerous situation to be doing it in. Elrbetrt was in a spot worse than she, and she couldn't be the one to help, so she called up for the defence of the fallen and horseless, "Gabriel, help Elrbetrt with the not dying, that would be incredibly useful!" Her voice was shaking, fear coursing through her frame, but she could only imagine that it was not one tenth of what the others were feeling now.

She looked away for a moment, and took a breath. She needed to compose herself, she could do this. If she could be calm, they all could be calm. They all could get through this. She exhaled, and with force of will, stilled her shaking.

No, even if they didn't make it out unscratched, they could do this. She had faith. That had to count for something, they had an angel on their side this time.[/hr]
 
Goblin Holds - Aslo

Aslo looks to Nyla rubbing his chin in a thoughtful manner "That might work, and it's definitely worth a shot, but how do we know those doors will open at all? How much time would the rats buy us?" Hundreds more questions ran through his head, but he knew better than to expect answers from the group, they were likely in as much confusion as he was. "We could use them to set up some form of ambush? Lure our enemy in from wherever they are, and put them to task against the golems for us. We risk losing the advantage of being here first, but we may be able to weaken their forces?"

"I... Hm." Nyla examines the area around. They were surrounded by buildings. "If our casters could repress their talents somehow... So it would be harder to detect them? Possibly." She taps the sheath of her gladius in thought. "I don't know for certain. I'm not very experienced in advanced tactics."

Daevon considered the discussion. "We'd be fools to give up an advantage in ground covered on the chance of an ambush. We don't know that this is the only approach and if the daemons are down here they've likely got better sight in the dark than we do." He snorted. "No, our best 'bet' is distracting the golems long enough to sneak past ourselves, or more importantly, get whatshername there who set off the places lighting to get us past." Daevon considered it further. "The place responds to her, perhaps they will too. If that's the case, we might be able to get past and leave the Golems in place to delay pursuit."

Aslo then looks back to Maeven. "What do you think? Will you be able to get those doors open?"

Maeven nods her head, "Just make sure the big guys don't touch me and I'll get to those doors. Fafnir might be able to help distract them, if you need, but it might leave him a little worse for wear."

"If you're willing to try then you'll have us to cover you. Keep Fafnir back if it seems they're distracted enough. Better to keep him in good condition should we need him later." Aslo was glad that Esyllt planned to send in her own creature to help distract the targets. "I'll do as Nyla suggested and attempt to draw their attention as Esyllt does the same with her goblin-thing."

She nods and slings Blunderbuster over her shoulder, shifting on her feet. "Alright. Sounds like a plan." Maeven stretches, preparing for the mad dash she would make towards the door when everything set into motion.

Aslo surveys the street ahead of him and contemplates how best to approach the golems. His hope was to get in close enough to simply latch the bag onto one of the golems, and have the rats flush out from there. He approached one side of the street, and observed the buildings that lined the street. In short order he was able to climb the side of the building, and reach the rooftop. From there, there wasn't much new he could see, but from here he could effectively approach them without being seen. He moved silently across the roof, making sure to keep low, and out of sight. Moving from building to building was a matter of jumping over a 6 foot gap or so. It could be seen as a challenging jump, but luckily the roofs were flat, and Aslo was very capable.

After making the last jump, and crawling to the lip of the building he breathed a sigh of relief to find that they still hadn't noticed him yet. He brought the bag out, and wondered if there was any risk to his allies when he threw it down. To minimize that risk his plan was to plant the opened bag onto one of the golems rather than at its feet. After opening the bag he jumped to his feet, most likely giving away his position. He tossed the bag, hoping for the best, he could already see rats pouring out from inside. He started moving away from the edge, praying that the golems attack the rats rather than him, but on the chance they did attack him he would do his best to lead them away from the entrance.
 
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Filomena
Tuleria, Unto the Breach

Pain. Blood. Mistakes. Failure.

I stood, but not tall. I was better than this. It was my duty to be better than this.

The vial. Blood for blood, healing for the leg. It would have to be enough, and I would stand and fight to the last, for Tuleria, even if it were not. The beast, apparently ignorant of me and hissing at Toorg, as I treated myself would not remain it. I will pressure the weakness. I will crack the chitin. I will stand. I will fight. It will fall, not I.

Toorg moved to strike. Healed or no, I would do the same.

Weapon raised, hammer presented, strike down, step, pull, step, sweep stance, strike, pressure, push, pull, step, strike, remember every step of training. Favour my good, force their bad.

I can be healed another time.[/hr]
 
Protector Yuri
Tuleria, Unto the Breach


Almost unbelievably, Yuri had landed without injury and struck a mortal blow against the sorceress. But not mortal enough, for even with death laying it's inevitable hands upon her, the sorceress still attempted to weave her magics. Whether the intent was to influence the melee, assist her agile brethren, or even lash out at Yuri herself, it did not matter. It was a desperate attempt from the enemy, and stopping it would only aide in the Blade's success.

Yuri began tensing her legs and preparing to lunge forward before she had even decided upon an angle of attack. Another slash would be the easiest to hit, but was unlikely to immediately slay the vampire. Arms and staff could too easily intercept an upwards arc towards the neck. A stab however - or better yet, a lunge for the extra distance - would be far harder to block. Through the neck then, to end the vampire quickly and efficiently.
 
Liveria - Ancestral Bonds
Elrbetrt Westfeld
The lance gave a satisfying thud as it hit the orc, but her own weight was barely enough against the orc's. To top it all off, her horse stumbled off somewhere, leaving her flat on her back right there with some inevitably angry orcs. Faster than she could react, the bloodied orc wrapped his hands around her neck. Thankfully the other orc still haven't gotten over his grudge, and tore him away from her.

Sensing that it was now or never, she stood up quickly, taking a step back, as she raised her shield, taking up a defensive posture. It was just as well, as she could plainly hear three different orcs charging for her. Praying silently under her breath, she unsheathed her weapon and braced herself.

There was just too little time for her to accurately judge a good course of action, so she just took the safest for now. The others had their own problems right now, judging from the sound. At the very least, she hoped to stall these three just long enough for the others to sort out the rest.
 
Kingdom of Liveria – Ancestral Bonds
Rayvon Krayvitch

Everything was moving far too fast. Her attempt at a minor magical cantrip to free Andrea had failed, but relief flooded her to see Helene collapse to the ground and the whip wielding orc free the dark elf. She feels an iota of relief as she draws her great shield and holds it defensively, looking over the brim as she draws the angelic sword. Light flares from its silvered length and her eyes glitter in the lowlight as they almost appear to shine brighter with their inner light.

However, her lips tug down into a disappointed frown as she sees Elrbetrt go careening head over heels as her horse falters on the uneven surface. For a moment, she fights the urge to swear at the girl for her ineptitude. This was the second horse she had brought death upon in her carelessness. It was a wonder the woman still lived and had not brought about the death of an ally, yet. A moment of disdain passes through her as she glowers over the brim of her shield as the orc Kraclaw calls his challenge.

She grips her sword tighter as she starts forward into the roaring din. Kasim called out in taunt and she nods inwardly, seeing him ready for something. It was apparent by the way he held himself he had a plan. She would concern herself less with the axe wielding maniac, then. Still, concern flickers in her eyes as Draza calls out to Gabriel and instructs him to protect the blind fool who had no right to be upon the battlefield. If he was harmed in protecting her, she would not forgive the Liverian nobleborn.

She utters a silent prayer for him, hoping he would do what was best and not suffer due to the inexperience of the sightless woman. Foremost at the front of her mind now, though, was Andrea as she shuffles across the room. Rayvon notes she was without a weapon still, and for some reason was not defending herself with the elements as before. Concern for the priestess draws her forth as she reaches the table that held the snake whip.

Doubt crosses her eyes as she reaches out to the animated weapon, fearing for a moment that it might lash out at her as her hand nears. She grasps hold and the snakeheads begin to coil about her hand, hissing out as it glares up with serpentine eyes. A chill runs down her spine as she raises her arm before throwing the weapon to Andrea that she might arm herself.

Task done, she raises her shield, ready to intercept any attack made by the other orcs in order to defend the others until she saw any opportunity to strike them down.



Kingdom of Tuleria – Unto the Breach
Arkos Cernunnos

It had come in a second. The first attack and his sand rushed forth and slows the vampire. Granules of sand splash against his face and get into his mouth, turning his mouth to grit as he gnashes his teeth with a growl. The scent of blood floods the air. Arkos' gaze drifts to the side and spies his ally fallen. Fury floods him. A howling rage within burbles at the harm done to Quar, demanding bloodshed as penance.

Arkos grasps his glaive tighter as Aeyr calls out her challenge. He is deaf to it. Her plan would not work. Magic swells into his free hand as he charges forth towards the vampiric assassin. He sweeps up sand with its force and as he is about to connect, he throws it up, intending to blind the vampire as he would engage her. His earthen armour grinds with his every movement, weighing upon him as a satisfying shell of protection. He was the hunter. He would see her downfall.[/hr]
 
Imperium + Amazons~Doctor Gremlock​

Gremlock's blood boiled as he saw Elrithos pull the lever without asking anybody whether or not that was a good idea. On the bright side, he pulled the lever Gremlock saw as the most reasonable choice. The bad news was that the lever was the incorrect one and killed him, and almost the entire team, almost instantly. The goblin's rage boiled over and he ranted "Idiot! Why would he just move there like that! First the half dragon nitwit and now the sand elf!" The worst part to Gremlock was that the sand elves generally needed a hero, and he had gotten himself killed in the stupidest way imaginable.

Once his rage cooled down, he then looked at Veira. He was thankful at her saving them, but she seemed to be very sorrowful at his death. In an attempt to comfort her, he said "Don't worry miss, it wasn't your fault. You did the best you could."

"I know that! I just wish... He hadn't been so brash." Veira slowly gets back up onto her knees and takes a few deep breathes. "I'll be alright, don't worry about me. Just... Just focus on answering this riddle correctly, so nobody else has to die."

"Hmm...yeah." came Gremlock's reply. He was contemplating the riddle once more when he suddenly realized what Fahim had said earlier "They were a multicultural power that spanned over multiple, small kingdoms. They were more akin to... A nation of nations, rather than having a singular identity beyond being the protectors of the mortal world. At least, that is the historical Imperium. I haven't a clue what the modern Imperium tends to purport beyond their vague 'Dream of Empire'. I have yet to read literature on that subject."

This made him even more angry than he already was, here Fahim had apparently known that Unity was the wrong answer, and then he forgot to tell anybody. He was just about to lash out at him, until he realized that the elf had acted on his own. It was likely that even if Fahim had said something Elrithos might have just done it anyways. He tried to cool down a bit, there wasn't any use in getting angry at each other after all. He spoke, still a little peeved "Well, I'm going to put up a wall partway around us to catch any more shrapnel if we're wrong again. And this time, nobody pull any levers until we have a better understanding of this riddle, and I can cast something on you to make you not die quite as quickly. Fahim, any more information you'd like to share with the class on the Imperium?"

While waiting for the answer, Gremlock then focused his magical energies on making a small semicircular wall around the party. This way, they had something to hide behind should the next lever they pulled be incorrect.
 
"Uh huh... I know what you want and I'm not that easy." -Mikan, Page 4.

Kingdom of Renalta - Heart of Madness

Mikan looks between Abjaar and Cennick, and nods in agreement with them as she walks over to the tarot cards. "Alright James, we'll play your game." As she turns The Fool and The Devil to the side, The Empress & Death cards disappear. A few feet from the table, a doorway appears embedded in one of the walls, and the door swings open by itself at a slow pace, creaking as it does so. Looking through the doorway, it appeared to lead to the central plaza of the Renaltan capital. Though, in the capital's central plaza, a statue of Kouri stood tall: Here, it was a statue of a noble looking man none of them would recognize, though it was likely one of Kouri's ancestors.

Mikan leads the way without hesitation, with Eric once again becoming superstitious and distrusting enough of magic to put him behind the rest of the Queen's Blades. The plaza was bigger than the one in the modern capital, and seemed modified by James' imagination, as the surrounding buildings all lacked doors and windows. It was simply a very large, open space, with a statue in the middle. In addition, the buildings lined the area around in a circular fashion, leaving no avenues or methods of escape save for a long, wide, cobblestone path that led up to the castle of Renalta, which was almost an hour's travel away at a leisurely pace.

Standing several feet away at the base of the statue were two figures. One was a tall, muscular man in a thick, tattered, black cloak with a hood. The hood was drawn back to reveal the face of a tiefling. "Marcus..." Mikan said softly, her tone almost mournful. "He traveled with the Queen and I so he could get closer to his quest of vengeance against Malaki. He died, rescuing me." Marcus had no response for her, and merely stared at them with a two handed blade unsheathed. He seemed to possess an abnormal amount of strength, and was decked from his feet to his shoulders in plate mail armour with chain mail underneath it, leaving only his head as a weak point. One he would likely protect zealously.

Standing a couple feet beside Marcus was Queen Kouri, though she appeared much younger: In her late teens to early twenties. Her blue hair almost seemed more vibrant, as did the flames that wreathed her hands. The dress she wore had a slit along her left leg, which caused Mikan to raise an eyebrow. "I see your imagination is as perverted as ever." James replied, his tone unsettling. "I could make her dance too, if you like." Behind both Marcus and the younger Kouri was a woman in thick purple robes, covering her from head to feet. A hood obscured her facial features, though the iconography of a white hand that gave out a ring of light was embroided on her chest, back, and black gloves. Her hands were raised, and from them, several white strings of light seemed connected to both Marcus' and Kouri's back. "I wonder if that's a weak point." Eric mused out loud. "Seems kind of obvious though if I can recognize it..."

The woman in purple robes had two large, grey wolves to each side of herself that seemed protective of her. Those likely replaced what the other two cards would have been, and were distinctly weaker than Marcus & younger Kouri.

They all simply stood in wait. Mikan blinks in slight confusion as James further iterates his game to the Queen's Blades. "The moment you begin your attack, they will react in turn. I'm being generous and giving all of you the first move. Once they're defeated, you can head up the path to the castle, where within I and Dirge await you. If you try to walk down the cobblestone path without fighting, they will engage you instead. As for the rest of the rules... You'll have to figure them out all by yourselves! Exhilarating, isn't it? Here, in fact, just to show good sportsmanship, I'll even let each of the Queen's Blades ask one question for information before they begin! Only one, though. You can ask it whenever you like too, I mean, so you can save your question for the middle of a fight if you're alive. Am I talking too much? Dearie me, I'm holding up the show, aren't I?" Mikan shakes her head and takes a deep breath; she seemed unsettled by the prospect of fighting the ghosts of her past. Eric on the other hand was already loaded and just waiting for the order to attack. He would wait to coordinate with the other Queen's Blades. Unless, of course, they could think of something else.

Imperium/Amazons - The Dream of Empire

Fahim looks puzzled at Gremlock and shakes his head. "I... Have already admitted my study of the Imperium is limited. Your irritation appears misplaced, goblin." Veira takes a few deep breaths and gets back to her feet, though she still shook a little between her emotional state and weakened nature from casting so much magic. "I'm alright, I'm okay, that spell just took a lot out of me. That's all." She smiles wearily towards Sonia. Minstrol's accusation towards the spirit left it unphased. They were lucky it didn't seem to care for their emotions, because it seemed highly unwise to insult an intangible spirit who was their only guide in a massive labyrinth.

Seeing as nobody else was seeming to come up with good ideas, and Gremlock's plan of just setting up explosive barriers wouldn't save whoever was pulling the lever next, Fahim scratched the back of his head and looked at the dwarf. Disappointed by her silence, he then glances up to the spirit and narrows his eyes. "There is no right answer." The spirit crosses its arms and tilts its head. "Explain." Fahim suddenly sighed in relief. "That tells me enough. You didn't respond to Minstrol's accusation that it was a lie, yet you just asked me to explain my answer... My answer to an oddly worded question. The levers were simply here as decoy choices, weren't they? Because there is no one particular asset more valuable than others in a multicultural army that seeks to use all of its individual elements with utmost efficiency, rather than absolute uniformity."

The spirit pauses, then nods. "Yes. An acceptable answer." It motions towards the door, then pauses once more. "You seem to be a follower of the others, why did you answer?" Fahim looked to the others and hesitated before he answered: It was readily apparent he didn't want to offend them, but he had to speak the truth. "Those that I follow seemed incapable of ascertaining an answer outside of the box, so I made the decision that I had to do it... After all, a barbarian would never think outside the box if physical choices were presented to him first." The spirit, satisfied with the answer, opened a large door to the next area.

Fahim this time led the way, though he seemed highly uncomfortable doing so. As he entered the next area, slowly and cautiously, his suspicious eyes examined the large area. Before he could acclimate his eyes, the spirit began speaking once more. "It should be known that there were others who came before you. They appeared to be impatient and violent. They were unable to pass the other test to gain access to the treatises." Veira looks up at the spirit. "Demons?" The spirit nodded, much to Veira's surprise. "Why would you ever let demons through in the first place?!" The spirit looked among the queen's blade with confusion. "You are a very strange people, to judge others by their race... Regardless, they did not survive the second and final test. However, they did not seem content with remaining dead..."

Finally, their eyes acclimated to the low lit torches surrounding the large chamber. It was spherical in shape, with stairs covering the floors, walls, and ceiling--the whole area, save for a flat area no larger than five square feet in size at the bottom of the stairs. The stairs even led up and around the walls to the ceiling, and much to their surprise, looking up at the ceiling revealed an Agent of Greed--a skeletal rogue looking cretin, to be more precise--and four pale looking corpses of humanoid demons, pulling darts out of themselves and tossing them aside. Yet, while they remained on the ceiling, the darts fell several dozen feet to the floor, where they promptly shattered like glass.

It seemed as though wherever the stairs were, that is where gravity pushed down: Standing on the stairs of a wall made the wall a downward point. If one were to jump off a wall or the ceiling however, they would most likely fall and break several bones on the descent. All save Armerza, who likely could survive if she landed on her shield, though she would still sustain some moderate injuries.

The Agent of Greed finally notices them and shrieks, speaking in incomprehensible noises to its compatriots. They were all decked in chain mail vests and leather pants, as well as leather helmets, and appeared to be feminine in shape, though it was impossible to discern if they were male or female in the dimly lit conditions of the spherical chamber. Two wielded crossbows, while one wielded a pair of one handed axes, and the last one wielded a sword and shield. The four of them surrounded the Agent of Greed, intent on keeping it safe from harm as it pulled out menacing looking, black throwing knives, which seemed coated in a glowing pink substance. The mages in the room would recognize it to be some sort of magical poison, but only Gremlock had the qualifications to recognize that it was a poison to cause its victims to become submissive. Getting hit would impede them, and possibly even render them unable to resist the Agent of Greed if it compelled them to cease fighting, but only if it could penetrate their defenses and cut into their flesh.

They could attack from any angle, and while the Agent of Greed wasn't caught off guard, the Queen's Blades did seem to have a few seconds to move and attack before the crossbows could reload. If they fell off the walls or ceiling it could cause them great harm, but it could also feasibly permanently put down the undead demons at the Agent's command...

Kingdom of Liveria - Ancestral Bonds

As Andrea's whip lands at her feet, the orc which the princess was possessing shakes his head. "We need one alive to interrogate. Now everyone else doesn't have to worry about using non-lethal methods. It's better if I stay back." The orc ducks behind a stone slab, although occasionally his eyes wander to Andrea's form. "... I hate possessing orcs." He mutters quietly, and uncomfortably, with a hint of strain in his voice in attempting to retain control.

As Elrbetrt gets to her feet, Gabriel nods to Draza and ascends over-top of the stone slab. He grimaces as he takes a position beside the blind knight, then looks to the three charging. "STAND DOWN OR PERISH BEFORE MY MIGHT!" He attempts to intimidate them, but the bloodthirsty look in their eyes implied that such an action was likely too late. As Rayvon moves to help defend, the three orcs finally reach their targets. Gabriel is able to effectively block one, and Elrbetrt is able to block a second, but the third manages to flank them both and lunges for one of Elrbetrt's blind spots. His axe buries itself greedily and clumsily into Elrbetrt's side, penetrating her armour and causing her to flinch. Blood would quickly start to run from her nose and mouth: Mere minutes left to live without healing...

Before Gabriel could respond, Kraclaw throws one of his axes, calling Kasim's bluff. Gabriel looks away as Rayvon lunges in just in time to deflect the throwing axe with her shield. For some reason, he had hesitated, as though he was struggling to focus on his aim: Giving Rayvon the time necessary to deflect the blow that would have likely ended Gabriel's life. He breathes a sigh of relief as he grapples with the orc in front of him. On his left was Rayvon, several feet further was Kraclaw who was approaching slowly, and on his right was Elrbetrt. Elrbetrt was facing two orcs, one in front of her, and one on her right side. A few feet to her right was the entrance, where the orc flanking her had his back turned to Kasim, Draza, and Laenaia.

Zoe raises her crossbow, having fumbled on her reload initially. Cursing under her breath, she aims and fires at the orc flanking Elrbetrt. The bolt easily finds its way into the base of his spine, bursting forth through his guts and thoroughly mangling him. The orc falls over, dead from shock as Zoe starts reloading as rapidly as she could for a third shot. Kraclaw still had one more throwing axe before engaging with his spear if he so chose...

Goblin Holds - Antiqua Scientiam

As the group starts to put their plan into motion, Esyllt would feel her calico starting to return. It had likely found something, but she wouldn't be able to know what it was until it grew closer to her position.

As Aslo popped out from cover, the golems immediately reacted to his presence. Tossing his bag of rats and moving away was the smart decision he'd find, as he managed to get a mere two steps before one of the golems smashed the part of the roof he had been standing on less than five seconds prior. Rats come hording out of the bag by the hundreds, swarming into its every nook and crevice, attempting to cling onto it as many simply end up sliding down its exterior. There were in fact, so many rats, that the second golem registered it as an indiscernable threat and slammed its metallic fist into the back of the first golem, causing it to fall over. Small holes had been punched into its thick outer shell where the second golem's knuckles had connected, and though a few rats were crushed when the first golem fell, the majority remained unscathed.

They swarmed over each other, climbing over its metallic exterior to dive into the small holes created. Though the second golem swatted at them desperately, with the unsettling sound of rat bones being crushed and its fists quickly turning red and pink with blood and internal organs, several rats managed to infiltrate the interior of the golem. As Maeven slips past the second golem, she would see the grotesque sight of oil spurting out of the first golem's back and limbs, before it suddenly bursts into flames. Many more rats further still started burning and writhing in pain, though a few escaped and scattered in every direction, their job done. As Aslo could hear the sound of dozens of rats squeaking and screeching in brief suffering, the smell of horrendously burned flesh wafting into the air from the smoke, a single rat returns to him with the rat bag in tow. He somehow recognized it as the rat he had been petting in Kouri's company back in the castle. The rat stares up at him, and drops the bag at his feet.

Meanwhile, as all of this occurred, Maeven managed to easily slip past the second golem and push her hands against the door. It opened effortlessly, and as it did, the second golem suddenly went silent and ceased moving, going perfectly still. It seemed it was safe for the rest of them to proceed: Esyllt's distraction hadn't even proved necessary, though it was still better to have in case the rats hadn't performed their task as admirably as they did.

Within the interior of the building was a metallic compound, which seemed highly reflective. So much so that each wall reflected back to the other wall several times over, resulting in a nauseating effect that could only be compared to a hall of mirrors. The whole, large room contained merely a single table of switches at the centre of the room. Examining it at a distance proved rather fruitless, as none of the buttons, switches, or incomprehensible doodads seemed to mean anything to them: It was a level of technology simply beyond their frame of reference to understand.

Unamo stares in awe of the burning flames and black liquid that slowly seeped out from the first golem to spread them. She moves quickly past the second golem, since it was disabled, and entered the building a few seconds after Maeven and came to a stop as her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and confusion at the reflections. "I don't understand." Unamo says as she waves one of her arms. "I heard of such places at... At carnivals, outside of the Amazon, but this is... Quite a sight." She seemed to calm for a moment, but a pang of pain running up her injured leg quickly reminded her that she wasn't in the clear yet.

Nyla, on the other hand, didn't rush immediately into the building. She would be the last one to do so, instead making sure that neither Aslo or Esyllt would be caught out alone, leave alone the cripple Daevon. She watches as a rat runs up to her foot and cowards behind it. Sighing, she kneels down and picks up the rat, and scratches it underneath the chin. "You did good." Her eyes move to Esyllt. "So did you, being ready to back things up with your own distraction." Yet, her eyes couldn't help but betray a certain amount of admiration for Aslo as she glanced at him up on the rooftops.

Esyllt would be able to feel her cat's presence nearby, it had gained a lot of ground during all of these events. It managed to confirm to her that there were demons, and they were quickly approaching the area. There appeared to be not one, but two agents, each with their own cadre of minions. The cat however was unable to tell what kind of demons they were without getting caught, so it chose to flee quickly to relay the information to Esyllt. Unamo's spirit was still unaccounted for in its entirety.

Kingdom of Tuleria - Unto the Breach

Aeyr's taunt proved meaningless as Arkos blitzed past her to attack by himself. His sand attack doesn't end up blinding the vampire's sight, but does obscure the actions Arkos was taking behind it. He successfully impacts her, and she ends up losing one of her daggers, but rather than falling to the ground she ends up grappling his glaive, pushing it up onto his chest, and then ramming her second dagger into his shoulder. While his rocky armour stops the majority of its force, she does manage to penetrate and cut an inch into his flesh, causing blood to seep out in large volumes. Not immediately life threatening, but quite painful. The two remain in a grapple as the sounds of men shouting and charging reach her ears. She looks down into the desert valley and spots the remaining buccaneers all charging up towards her. Her eyes widen as she attempts another escape, only to be prevented by Arkos, who had her effectively grappled.

As the Buccaneers all reach and swarm around her, she breaks free only to be tripped by Arkos and fall to the ground. The Buccaneers then all circle around her and begin repeatedly stabbing her. She screams and howls for a few seconds, but it doesn't last long in the face of the angry, though somewhat fatigued mob.

Quar, meanwhile, manages to stabilize his own wound with his magic. Breathing slowly, he looks up at Aeyr, then glances towards the scorpions. "Get moving, go-- agh." He winces and grasps his guts in pain. "Quickly. Before it's too late. The buccaneers can't do it without the Queen's Blades. I'll be fine. I just... Need a couple minutes... Sorry..." There was deep remorse on his face for his failure, though he continued to mend his own wounds.

Meanwhile, as all of this was going on, Otto looked between Toorg and Filomena. Before he could shout otherwise, Filomena charged once more at a scorpion. Shaking his head, he moves to engage the healthy scorpion with Toorg, taking the long way around to flank it at an angle rather than charge it head on. A lesson which Filomena likely should have learned the first time as she descended into the extremely deadly grasp of the chitin-covered scorpion. Though her blow connects with its injured pincer and does manage to break the chitin in such a way as to break its pincher, the other, still perfectly intact pincer was easily able to rip through Filomena's flesh like a pair of freshly sharpened sabres. Being cleft in two across her torso, her death was nearly instantaneous.

Toorg's charge reaches the scorpion, which was ready for his frontal assault as it darted out of the way of a slam on his part. It latches both of its pincers around Toorg's left arm as it hit the desert hand, and with a few unsettling wrenches it attempts to take Toorg's arm off. As Toorg recoils and brings his arm up, the scorpion is lifted off the ground momentarily before finally succeeding at its task of wrending off Toorg's limb, sap spraying wildly from the open wound, though not killing him outright it would slow him down and momentarily phase him. As the scorpion drops the wrended off limb to go for a second attack against the stunned Toorg, it ends up blind sided by Otto, who swings for its side and ends up cleanly cleaving off three of its legs from the back to the centre. It falls down, and as it manages to turn itself slowly in the sand to face Otto, Toorg slams his right fist into its side, rolling it over to expose its more vulnerable underside. Toorg and Otto then take turns bashing it, about a half a dozen times each as Otto yelled incoherently about his family's honour in the tongue of his motherland. After a few solid bashes from both, the scorpion ceases twitching, and its innards were thoroughly juiced. Otto stares up at Toorg, covered in the blue blood of the scorpion. "RAAAAAAAGH! ONE MORE, TREE MAN!" Otto was clearly frenzied and ready to take on the other scorpion.

Meanwhile, whilst all of this was happening, Yuri went for the final lunge against the magician. Her defensive training made her ill suited to this task, and though she was able to lunge competent, the vampire was able to leap back. Yuri stumbles in the sand, and the vampire drops her spell and counter-lunges, sinking her fangs into Yuri's collarbone. There was a certain madness to the vampire's movements now as the two fell into the sand and rolled down into the valley. Yuri manages to shove the vampire back, painfully, as her fangs ripped through a couple inches of her flesh. They came to a stop several feet closer to Aeyr and Arkos, though it still managed to keep her pinned to the sand, Yuri's blood dripping from its fangs as it kept pushing itself against her arms, that barely held it at bay. In the whole flurry, her weapon had fallen a few feet from her: Out of reach. "HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE WORTHLESS, MORTAL!" The vampire taunts, still trying to go for the nourishment that could preserve her precious immortal life. It was so focused on Yuri that it couldn't see Aeyr and Arkos nearby, ready to kill it and get it off of her.

Still, Yuri could feel a chill in her wound. A sickening feeling in her gut told her that the vampire may have done a little more than simply drain some blood from her body...
 
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Sonia - Amazons + Imperium

Looking back the answer seemed so obvious. She had even toyed with the idea that all the levers were correct but never once thought that not pulling any was the proper response. Feeling stupid combined with Fahim's remark on their creativity dealt a small blow to her pride. Yet as she recalled events she couldn't help but feel the goblin was partially right. Fahim had appeared to be waiting for one of them to answer, and his disappointment that he was the one who needed to was peculiar. Then there was the fact that he made it such a point that he was a follower of the group, not claiming to be actually part of it. True, he wasn't a blade, but why did it matter who answered the riddle correctly? In all it gave her the impression that he was measuring the blades and they all fell short. It left a sour taste in her mouth.

Then again he wouldn't exactly be wrong in that assumption. The dwarf went comatose, the thief was incoherent and the goblin was, well a goblin. Including herself, none of the actual blade's had done anything, and thus the group so far wasn't looking too assuring. The only thing they had really done was lose one of their own. Elrtihos' death had shaken her more than she cared to admit, and as she passed the corpse she knelt beside it one last time. As the blood dried across the crumbled, stone floor there was a pang of loss. Not so much for the man but rather for what he was: one of the last of his kind. So much history, culture, and knowledge lost. It was a shame.

She dare not fall behind, so as the last of her companions left to see what lay further she hurriedly followed after them, once more washing blood from her hands as she entered the next room. The guide spoke again before the demons turned to them with weapons drawn. This had been what she expected from the start, but still the immediate sight gave her pause. It was hard to see them clearly in the poorly lit room, but then Sonia remembered the Cat's Eye Charm. Her hand darted to it and quickly she cast its magic. Not upon herself nor even any of her companions, but rather upon one of the demons. She cast it upon one of the two equipped with the crossbow and subsequently called out to Veira, hastily trying to act before the bows could be loaded, "Strike them with lightning!" She thought she remembered the other mage could do that, and though she may be weak from the previous ordeal the lightning didn't need to be strong, only bright. The increased sensitivity to light granted from the charm combined with a brilliant flash could be potentially blinding, Sonia had learned that before on an accident, assuming of course going after the eyes was a sound strategy with these shambling corpses. She hoped it was for if Veira could blind one of their ranged opponents then Sonia could possibly handle the other. Liquid sprang forth from her water skin and jetted towards the other crossbowman, expanding to a dense stream of fog as it moved. It wasn't enough to shroud them all, and she wasn't powerful enough to split it amongst four targets, but she was confident she could cling the fog to the other bowman's eyes.
 
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Liveria - Kasim

The hulking orc had been too smart to take the bait, so there was nothing left to do but follow through on the threat. Kasim couldn't really see any way to help the blind knight and the angel with their fight without risking shooting one of them in the process, so dealing with Kraclaw was the only reasonable route left anyway. He drew the nocked arrow back with his full strength, took a moment to aim at the armored orc's center of mass, and let it fly. Kasim was under no illusion that he was too fast for Kraclaw to note the threat and respond to it, so as he loosed the arrow he kept his bow held up in front of his body for whatever meager protection it might provide, and he hoped would be able to react fast enough to dodge should it become necessary.

Renalta - Zin

Zin didn't bother with responding to the slaver's jibes. She had no interest in dealing with his sort, those who seemed to care only for personal power and glory. She could dredge up some sympathy for those like James, people who became twisted by their obsession with a noble goal and fell into evil ways, because they were as much victims of circumstance as true monsters. Someone who was willing to slave and murder for sheer personal gain though? There was no redeeming such barbarians, so she had no interest in having anything more to do with them than was absolutely necessary.

She was not at all surprised to find that the tarot cards had represented a combat challenge. It seemed everything came back around to fighting in the end. Perhaps it wouldn't just be a plain old fight, given James's taunt and offer of answering questions, but that didn't mean a whole lot to Zin since every battle she'd ever been near or part of had seemed like a strange and foreign beast. She could do little but support her fellow Blades in the fight, and the best way to do that would be to distract or disable one of the enemies.

It seemed like the robed woman was important to whatever the fight entailed, so that seemed the smarted target to aim for. Getting the job half done wouldn't really help anything, so Zin decided to spend some time charging up a more impressive spell than what she would normally be able to cast on the fly. She had practiced an illusion spell to make a target feel horrible pain, like they were being stabbed in the gut, and that seemed like a good way to take the robed woman's mind off of whatever she was doing with those white strings. Zin hadn't ever overcharged the illusory stabbing spell, because she felt horrible about using the normal version on willing test subjects as it was, so she had no idea what to expect aside from the robed woman probably feeling like she was dying. It would be cruel, but luckily Zin was currently in a dark enough mood to feel only a passing shred of guilt at the prospect.

Before getting started with the spell charging, she let her companions know the general shape of her intentions. “I'll hold my question. You lot do as you please. I'm going to try something that may end this farce sooner than brute force would, but it will take some time to prepare.” Surly message delivered, Zin concentrated on funneling as much power as she could into the illusory stabbing spell.
 
Kingdom of Renalta; Heart of Madness - Murderok

Murd followed them through the gateway and appraised the situation, the silver threads were 'obvious' weaknesses, but more curiously, they only connected to Kouri and this Marcus fellow. The Marcus fellow was heavily armoured except for his head, but perhaps he was nimble?

But he considered the chosen cards instead. The Fool and the Devil. Neither descriptor seemed to fit the figures, were they perhaps a reflection of the deranged mind that handed them this challenge, did he consider that Marcus fellow a fool for sacrificing his life for Mikan, and Kouri a devil for the fates that had befallen him?

Instead he remembered something he was told around the campfires to confuse him during a campaign, Gryff had told him not to worry about it but the question had never been buried too deeply. It was a question that couldn't be answered, Gryff had said it was called a Paradox. But maybe if this lunatic felt compelled to obey the rules of his little game he'd be equally perplexed and incapable of coming up with an answer.

He removed the magic-breaker and affixed it to the head of a normal bolt for Manbreaker and whispered the words to overcharge it as he took aim at the central figure to whom the silver threads were affixed. He didn't know if it'd work, but it was better than nothing.

"So 'Master Illusionist, we get a question. Here is mine." He tried to recall the wording. "If an honest crocodile steals a child and promises its return if the father can correctly guess exactly what the crocodile will do, how should the crocodile respond in the case that the father correctly guesses that the child will not be returned?" He put emphasis on the word honest to try and avoid the wizard wiggling out of it.

Without further ado he looked at Mikan and nodded. A gesture that spoke volumes, a gesture that meant 'on your word I attack.'



Goblin Holds - Antiqua Scientiam - Daevon

Daevon floated forth into the chamber his curiosity more compelling than any sense of danger, he sent out light waves of telekinetic force to try and gain a sense of the chamber, and anything hidden within. He felt the reflected waves of energy and could sense that there were hollow areas, but he couldn't tell which due to the way the metal reflected the energies, it was simply too difficult to separate the feelings.

"Some of the walls seem to be hollow and lead to other places, I can feel them telekinetically, but the power is reflected strangely, I cannot tell which, though i'm certain if you knocked you'd be able to tell the hollow spots, what good that information is to us, I don't know."

Instead he floated over and began to examine the banks of controls, they were large, complex and quite incomprehensible, instead Daevon began searching for anything that might be a manual or explanation of how to operate it, a pictographic plate, a book in a sealed compartment, even discernible words over the controls, it didn't matter, he just needed to find something to make sense of it.

"Give me time to study this." Daevon remarked. Curiouser and Curiouser.
 
Toorg: Kingdom of Tuleria
Toorg gripped his left should tightly. This was not the first time he had lost a limb, and he thought that it would not be the last either. He looked over to it, still in the sand, laying there lifelessly. "Toorg remember to get arm back" he said to himself as he then marched with Otto, the man that had helped him take down the healthier scorpion. "Toorg thanks armored man. Toorg will help take out other bug!" He said as he then looked upon the weakened scorpion. He knew this fight would be more difficult without his left, but right now, he could not take risks in this battle. He could try reattaching his arm, but the process wasn't fast enough, fearing that Otto might meet his end if he didn't help at this minute. Toorg decided to power through the pain, and fight the other Scorpion that was left.

It's weakened pincer was nowhere to be seen, this was indicator for the Treeant that it might be as much as a threat as it once was. Toorg immediately looked around for Filomena. She was cut in two, her lifeless body left in the sand in two places. Toorg might not have known her for long, but he still felt some sort of respect towards her, he did for the whole group in essence. He stomped his right foot down, hearing Otto give out a vicious battle cry. Toorg could feel an urge, something he hadn't felt before. This urge rose through him, as if he just wanted to rip apart the scorpion piece by peice in a frenzy. This was an alien feeling to him, true contempt for a being such as this "Bug" as he called it.

This pumped up Toorg even more as he then drew his attention towards the injured scorpion. "TOORG WILL SMASH BUG INTO ITTY BITS! TOORG WILL NOT DIE!" He roared out as loud as ever, moving in closer. Instead of the usual charge, Toorg circled around, circling to it's exposed side. Toorg then charged in, ready to take on the Scorpion that ended Filomena's life.​
 
Goblin Holds - Aslo

As he reached street level once again he was at last able to look upon what had happened to the Golem. He stood somewhat awestruck at the destruction the bag of rats had caused. The smell of seared flesh still fresh in the air. He felt a nudge at his toes and recognized Loik with the bag in tow. Good rat. He thought to himself as he recollected the bag, knowing that it would be some time before he was likely able to use this artifact again. Aslo would then look to the now opened building with some pride. And one step closer. he remarked as he started towards the door.

Aslo met Nyla as he approached the door, the two of them would be the last ones in as Child and Esyllt walked inside. He looked to her with a smirk on his face as he slung the bag over his shoulder once again. "An excellent suggestion that was, Imperian." a notable tone of sincerety rang through his voice.

"Thank you." Nyla replies with a respectful nod.

From there he decided it best not to delay any further, and proceeded into the building himself. While the sight inside was impressive, he felt more disappointed than anything. This was most assuredly no factory, which meant more time for the enemy to close in on them while they tried to figure out how to move forward. Aslo approaches Unamo after she speaks. "Are you trying to tell me you've seen this type of thing before? Please share."

"No. I haven't. Just remarking that I've heard of this sort of strange phenomena about traveling circuses and carnivals... Something I've yet to experience beyond the veil of the Amazonian jungle."

At that, Aslo slumped a bit. He had hoped that she could prove insightful into the workings of this console, and with it the rest of the building. Hope once again started to swell as Daevon approached the console. If it was time he needed, Aslo would ensure he would have it. All too aware of the threat that was approaching Aslo looked about him. Whatever passages Daevon suggested were present were more or less useless at the moment, but Aslo predicted that should the Demons reach the interior of this building things would go poorly for the group from there. Concentrating for a moment he looked to Nyla. "An enemy force approaches, your battalion is forced into the entrance of local caverns. Do you stand and fight, or do you delve deeper, hoping for the higher ground."

Nyla glances to Aslo and blinks. "I would order everyone deeper inside but deploy some traps... Preferably explosives, or if the cavern is dimly lit, caltrops. I would also attempt to set up the battallion to ambush from two angles deeper within the cavern: It is possible to surround and destroy a superior force if you take them kilter from multiple angles." She frowns, looking at the mechanist building. "We definitely need traps of some sort..."

Aslo thinks a moment longer. The best form of trap Aslo could think of would be turning the Golem on the demons, and the failure of their weapon in such a confrontation. That being said he wasn't sure what else they might have brought with them, so to set up for a fight here may prove fatal. "Very well. The demons are no doubt on their way, and we have no sure fire way of knowing what we face inside, let's cover ourselves a bit before jumping into a fire. Maeven, you seem to hold sway over this city and it's workings. Try to get that Golem to fight for us when the demons approach, or failing that get us an exit out of this room. Unamo, I predict they'll most likely send some mortar fire our way as they approach, do your best to sabotage their mortars completely, or divert their attacks, whichever is easiest for you. Child, Esyllt, Nyla, myself and with Maeven's permission Fafnir will serve as the last line. Any foe that makes their way inside these walls will be cut down by us."
 
Child had kept silent the entire way, blades at the ready. They had not done as she wanted, had not engaged the threat directly. It angered her somewhat. Aslo was now talking about setting up a defence, they had been put on the defensive, the initiative was in the enemies court. This upset her even worse. She was however, a fighter. And she knew it was not the time for argument. Yet, she could not let it go without a comment.

”Should have taken them by suprise, now we are forced to fight them on their turns.” Child snarled. ”I hope you are not afraid of death” She limbered up her arms, hooked blades glimmering in the dull light. ”Becouse it permenates this place.” And it did. There was a destinct lack of life, like it had fled the caverns long ago. All that was left was the deathly still, the demonic presence and the silent, deadly golems. She felt it into her very bones, and it chilled her soul. She wanted out of here, it reminded her far to much of the pits she had fought in after the audience left. A momument to death, nothing more.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to listen, tried to feel the presenence heading towards them. Her breath slowed as she focused, fingers wrapping tighter around leather clad swordhilts.

”They come.”
 
Armerza in Imperium/Amazon Mission

Her ears ached in the passing echoes of the explosion, dust lingering in the air, as she stared at the shattered monument where the Elf had just stood, to pull the lever. Grimacing, she averted her gaze, and wiped from her brow to her chin, she could feel some of the grit, mixed with something else, like sandy water, trying to abrade her skin. She looked down to the leather palm of her gauntlets, and saw the dirtied blood, and simply ignored it. The blood of the elf would mix in with the blood of many creatures and Dwarves that stained her gauntlets. It wouldn't be the last blood to soak into the leather, either.

She saw Veira stagger under the weight of the sudden casting, and the emotional toll of losing someone she was trying to do everything she could, to protect. Armerza was not the greatest of mages, it could be argued that she was even considered an apprentice of magic even, any more, but she knew the heavy effects of such sudden spellwork, of such magnitude. She could only return her gaze to the smoking wreckage, and fight the urge to snarl in disgust. She had heard that the Queen's Blades was to be a gathering of some of the best warriors and mages that not just one kingdom could put forth, but all the regions of the land; and yet this imbecile, very nearly, killed them all. Not even through sheer accident, but through blind arrogance.

It was something she despised. It was something she did not tolerate in her unit of guards back home. The action of one, nearly cost all of them, their lives. In the moment, if she could? Armerza wished she could raise the dangerous fool back to life, just to explain how much of an idiot he was, to his face, before killing him once again, to keep the rest of them safe. Perhaps though, the biggest issue, was that it shook her faith in the Blades as a whole, if such reckless incompetence was allowed...what else? She would have to talk to someone once they returned from this mission. If they returned.

When the Imperial Scouts arrived, and Fahim spoke, and then looked to her, almost expectantly; she faltered. She kept fighting with herself, the rage at Elrithos surging like waves, making it hard to focus on something of this riddle. She was still preoccupied, when she heard Fahim speak, and looked up to see the trace of disappointment in his eyes. That look, reflecting on her, helped to quell the rage, with disappointment in herself. Her eyes looked down, as she reprimanded herself, she fought the immediate emotions, and shoved them aside in her mind. Later. Now was not the time to dwell on this. She would talk to people later, Kouri even, if she had to go that far up the chain of command. Now however, she need to be present, alert, and not distracted. Lest she commit as much of a folly as the Elf.

As they moved, she adjusted the helm's position in the crook of her arm, until the mention of earlier visitors, who Viera aptly discovered, were Demons. An almost gleeful grin grew on Amerza's face, eradicating the mild grimace of before. This was what she was here for. She looked up to the illusion as she pulled the helm down, over her coif, the padding settling onto the chain, as she peered out through the transparent armour view port, "Didn't seem content with death? Well, I know this might be a bit outside the norm for you, but in this case: Unity is a bad thing. Dismemberment is a good thing." As they entered the room, she left the ever-burning torch go from her shield hand, so she could grip the shield with her full hand strength, she looked over her shoulder to the Illusion once more, "Oh, and do we get good marks for blood stains?"

The spirit looks to Armerza, and seems to have a strange, unsettlingly coy look on its face despite its flat toned response. "Blood stains are irrelevant, they will be cleaned soon."

"Do your cleaners do armour? I mean, this place is spotless, my gambeson could use their touch!"

"Only flesh." The spirit replies in a cryptic manner.

Her shoulders dropped slightly in mock dejection, before she caught sight of the demons...way up above. She noted the darts falling, and shattering upon the stone floor of the chamber."Oh look, the defeated! You failed your mission, you even managed to fail at staying alive." She shook her head, "I'll give you worthless, craven whelps, one last chance." Her expression within her helm turned almost predatory, "Make me beg for my mother, and I will be your slave. Disappoint me however, and I will dismember your disgraced corpses, until the only way to identify what was left, is for your depraved mothers to compare the taste of your remains, with your putrid afterbirth." Punctuating her entrance, she clashed the flat of the roshs head against the face of her shield twice, as she stepped forward, away from the other members of the Blades.

She was here for a reason, to protect the others when things got violent. Focusing their attention upon her, seemed like a worthwhile idea. The darts the demons had pulled from themselves, looked ill made to hurt her as well, for they shattered upon hitting stone. She made way for the stairs, to start climbing. She had an intention, and she would need elevation to make the most of it.
 
Sheriff Cennick "Cen" Greenborough in The Heart of Madness

It was alright to be wrong once in a while. At least that what Cennick told himself, he thought himself so damn clever when he confidently declared that death was Dirge's formerly deceased son. Now he stood, dumb with mouth agape, staring at some overgrown teifling with an apparent taste for head injuries, a former companion. How was that fair? Only a single person in the whole damn party could have possibly hazarded his its true from. In a way it made sense, bring up the ghosts of the past to torment and cause a bit of a fuss among your aggressors. Well, one aggressor. James seemed to focus his psychological warfare on Mikan alone. Perhaps she was the only one he truly feared, the rest of them merely pawns in some inconceivable game. Or maybe she was simply the only one he knew well enough to torment, the illusionist gleamed some characteristics from the party, but it was fully possible he just he just figured that out in how they group talked to one another. Hardly proof of omniscience.

James is just a man after all. A very mad and powerful man.

Cen looked more carefully at the challenge presented before him, others wanted the hooded figure very so much dead. Understandable, but while the figure posed a potential threat Marcus' sword and false-Kouri's fire posed real and tangible danger. He looked between the two and after a painful, fire-filled flashback decided to settle his efforts on the Teifling. "Mikan!" He bellowed, "Help me with the big one, Abjaar and Erik should be able to take Kouri." He didn't know where he got off telling the others what to do, but old habits die hard and a little coordination couldn't hurt. Cen assumed a defensive stance and carefully approached Marcus, there was a lot to look forward to after this whole bit of madness and he wasn't prepared to just throw his life away. Sword forward he waited for Marcus to make a move, at the first opening he would have the big bastard's head cut off. He couldn't help but wonder if that's how the teifling originally went out.
 
Liveria - Laenaia
Kraclaw's discipline being rigid enough to stop himself from attacking his allies despite being an orc was a surprise for Laenaia. Distracting him away from her allies was no longer an option because of that. Alternatively, she could force him to focus on one of them. The only one currently free that could feasibly fend off Kraclaw for awhile would be Rayvon and her shield. Now she needed to shift his focus away from the traitor orc and the drow.
...
Oh, he's focusing on the orc that the princess possessed and Andrea... While Laenaia could only care less of the Drow's fate, the same couldn't be said for the princess or even the possessed orc. The latter might have something they could learn about once interrogated. Then, she would have to redirect Kraclaw's attention to Rayvon. First, Laenaia smudged the distance between them all, making it as if Rayvon was closer inbetween him and his intended target than she was which would allow the Liverian to interrupt his charge. Then the vampire whispered that he could take the woman down quickly enough before any interruptions from the others.
 
Esyllt Boudica - Goblin Holds​


Those were... A lot of rats. Esyllt did not think such a massive amount was possible to keep in a bag. An unusual magic for sure, but it proved very useful. Though the nature of the golems intrigued Esyllt, despite their size and structure they moved quickly. Despite their mechanical exterior, their instincts were vaguely human... Or perhaps better said, once human?

The undead cat she had sent out returned, bearing troubling news. Two demon agents were approaching. This was troubling... They still had no idea what they were up against.

When Daevon remarked the walls being hollow, Esyllt responded, “Please do. Child is not wrong. Two agents are approaching, I cannot make out how many followers they have. We may have to prepare for considerable numbers. Any mobility such tunnels could provide us would be most welcome.”

It looked as if they were about to be pinned down. Though Esyllt was not certain what Maeven's connection to the golem was. “How come this city reacts to you?” She asked the mechanist. “These golem constructs work differently from what I have been taught, I would assist with the golem if I knew a little more about it.” Esyllt was a both a bit bothered and curious about the constructs.

“I need not be on the battlefield to take part on it,” Esyllt assured Aslo. “I will provide you a soldier in my stead.” And as Esyllt spoke, bronze-tinted plates formed into existence. As if attracted to an invisible magnetic core, the plates formed a distinctly humanoid form, armed with a spear of a distinctly Amazon design. A golem that held the spirit of a great warrior; Venatrix.
 
Aëyr
Tuleria, Unto the Breach


Appalled by the brutal display of lustful violence from the buccaneers, Aëyr winced and turned away.

All vampires were once whole.

Alas, she had not the time nor the desire to tarry—this fight was not yet over, with both the sorceress and the scorpion still locked in combat with her companions. Well aware of her own shortcomings, she knew she had no chance when faced with the giant scorpion—the brute strength of Toorg and Otto were better suited to dealing with its ilk. The second vampire, however, was a much smaller foe, and apparently yet to notice her, busy as she was with defiling Yuri's yet-living body.

Rushing light-footed across the sand, the thick pads of her feet dampening the noise of her approach, she drew the second of her daggers in her free hand. One dagger to fend off attack—the other to pierce the heart.

In order to save Yuri's life, Aëyr would have to rely not only on her considerable speed, but also her stealth.
 
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