"KILL THIS FLESH DEAD." -Fahim, Page 4.
Kingdom of Renalta - Heart of Madness
Mikan quietly follows Cennick, her flirtatious nature was suppressed looking at Marcus. His eyes followed her, tracking her every movement, and Cennick's as well. It seemed even if they couldn't attack, they were at least aware of their surroundings. The wolves growl lowly at the approach of the Queen's Blades, which causes Mikan to unsheathe her daggers preemptively and hold them close, just in case. Eric, meanwhile, glances back to the portal: Still no sign of Haraith or Franchine. Mikan looks to him expectantly, and Eric merely shrugs silently with a look of grave disappointment on his face: It seems likely, then, that she was a deserter, or a traitor, or worse. Still, there was no changing the plan now. The plan set out by Cennick, the burned sheriff.
Abjaar struck out first, with his chains. The illusory Kouri had already been prepared to dodge before his attack even came, and not one chain struck their mark as they all went low and she leaped to the side, away from Marcus. Though she stumbled, her flames did light aflame and a quick retaliation followed, as fire raced from her hands along the ground in a zig-zag pattern towards, Abjaar. Before the flames could reach him however, a crossbow bolt plants itself firmly through her left collarbone, snapping it two as she falls backwards, screaming in pain and shock and grasping at the bloody area. Abjaar had distracted the illusory woman long enough for Eric to do his part.
At least, so they thought.
Energy flooded through the white cords, and as the illusory Kouri returned to her feet, she pulled the crossbow bolt out of her healed wound and tossed it aside like a toy. It further grew worse with one of the wolves arriving by her side, growling and waiting to coordinate its attacks with the illusory Kouri.
Meanwhile, as this happened, Cennick's incoming attack against Marcus was blocked by Marcus. Mikan immediately dashes for a flanking attack while Cennick and Marcus' blades were locked together, diving low to avoid an elbow strike and impaling one of her daggers through the back of his back knee, sending Marcus down to one knee as he grunted in pain. Before Mikan could deliver the second strike, she's sent sprawling backward by the second wolf, being tackled and pinned to the ground. It snaps for her face, only to find empty air. Disarmed, she holds it back only with her bare hands. Cennick would be able to notice however that Marcus wasn't receiving the same healing that the illusory princess had: The woman in purple robes was preoccupied with something else.
Murderok attempts to fire his crossbow, only to find the mechanism jam on him. Looking it over, nothing would appear to be wrong, but the magic-breaker glowed nonetheless with magical energy nearby. Then, a feminine voice would enter his mind.
"Your dependence on toys like this against a mage makes you child's play." The voice seemed familiar to one he had heard during the diplomatic meeting, but he couldn't pin a finger on who it was in particular.
They would all also find that James was suspiciously silent. No response to the riddle, or any of their questions, not even a grunt of pain: Something had taken his attention away. Several feet behind Murderok and Erik, one of the buildings walls has a hole blown into it suddenly. As the dust settles, a figure panting heavily and covered in blood steps through. A bloodsoaked bandana is tied over a small head wound, and his hammer was still dripping with blood: It was none other than Dean Hansen. He grips the handle of his war hammer--Godsplitter--tightly, his chest rising and falling as he looked at the scene ahead of him. He was exhausted, and his head wound looked rather serious upon a closer examination, yet nonetheless he remained on his feet from sheer adrenaline. The mage's attention seemed to turn to him, though it seemed she wasn't able to do anything about it.
Imperium/Amazons - The Dream of Empire
Veira was quick to assist Sonia in her plan, nodding with approval as her fingertips light up and moments later, bright arcs spread through the air at a rapid rate, striking the undead crossbow right in the back and causing it to spasm violently and drop its crossbow, which promptly fell sixty feet to the floor where it bounced with a spine-tingling crack. Up above, the now disarmed undead rubbed at its eyes, blinded by the lightning. Whether it was temporary or permanent, there was no way to tell yet, but it did effectively disable one of their opponents for the time being.
Minstrol began her charge and threw her dagger, watching as it only mildly inconvenienced the blind undead by tapping it on the skull and then falling down toward the ground beside its crossbow. As Sonia's water attack snaked its way through the air towards the second crossbowman, he takes aim and fires at the charging Minstrol. Without any cover and with no way to dodge without losing her footing and falling to the ground, the bolt sung through the air and easily pierced through the center of her upper torso. It knocks her off her feet and sends her falling to the ground, and locked up in shock, she had no way to attempt to reorient herself whilst falling. She hits the ground neck first, with the sound of a snap loud enough to inform the room of her instantaneous death without any hint of doubt. As Sonia's water finally reaches the second crossbowman, she would watch her control over it end, as the Agent of Greed flicked his wrist and cackled.
"You aren't the only wizards here, ladies!" He looks over Sonia, in a possessive manner.
"You'll be nice to add to the collection for Lu--AHH!" He falls onto his ass as a bullet ricochets through his empty ribcage.
Gremlock's shot hadn't been enchanted the way he had wanted, as he had no access to holy magic. Atop this, his firearm was ill suited to damaging a skeleton without using a higher calibre, assuming he could strike a solid hit in the first place...
Armerza's challenge went unanswered as she climbed the stairs towards the ceiling. The undead seemed incapable of understanding it. All save the Agent of Greed, who seemed more confused by the challenge than anything else. Yet, he did eye her armour with a great deal of interest.
"Oooh, so well made, so shiny..." He pulls out one of his throwing knives and throws it at her face as she approaches. It deflects off of the invisible plate, causing the Agent of Greed great confusion.
"What?! What Wizard wears plate mail! It must be one of your friends! But... Who can hide that power from me?!" He looks to his bodyguards and positions himself behind his two melee guards, keeping them in the way of Armerza as he looks at Sonia: It seemed he wasn't charging a spell of his own, instead waiting to stop one of hers or Veira's spells.
"Crossbow, reload! Faster!" He shouts at it.
Fahim quietly shuffled himself beside the two mages, and simply stood there, carefully watching the second crossbowman, as the first had lost his weapon. Between climbing up with Armerza, and protecting the mages, he made a very clear choice, and he was keeping his abilities a hidden defense against the enemy. He glances back to Gremlock and motions to Armerza.
"Cover her."
Kingdom of Liveria - Ancestral Bonds
As Kasim takes aim and fires at Kraclaw, Rayvon steps in to get his attention and hold him off. Before either could notice the other's plans, an arrow strikes Rayvon's back. It is unable to penetrate her plate mail armour however, leaving her unscathed. With most of Kraclaw obscured by Rayvon from Laenaia's point of view, her magic had a limited effect, and Krawclaw was only momentarily dazed: Unable to take advantage of Rayvon in her momentarily disadvantaged state when issuing orders Haruuk. Instead he shakes his head out and looks to Andrea, heaving his throwing axe at her. Being behind cover, the throwing axe impales the stone table, and isn't able to hurt her. The orc howls in anger and pulls out his spear, attempting to keep Rayvon at a distance whilst slowly approaching Andrea's position: It was unclear whether he knew she had her whip or not.
Princess Helena watches as the orc with an arrow in its throat slowly stumbles toward Andrea. Without warning, Andrea would feel the orc Helena was possessing move quickly past her to tackle the orc with an arrow in its throat down. The two orcs who had been fighting each other thanks to Laenaia were now both dead, having ripped one another's throats out. Kraclaw was quickly losing his men. As Gabriel and an orc were locked in heated combat, Haruuk came from the flank and attacked, biting the orc's arm and latching onto it. Though the orc tried to wave it off, it was enough for Gabriel to knock the orc to the ground and impale him in one swift motion.
This, finally, left Elrbetrt and her opponent. Though she tries to lash out at her opponent, it seemed rather for naught as her dulled, pained strikes were easily blocked and she was kicked to the ground. She could hear the axe moving through the air as blood trickled from her mouth, her end was near: One way or another. Then, the sound of a crossbow bolt in flight, shredding through flesh, and the orc dropping his weapons and falling over dead graced her ears. It was the last thing to do so before all the sounds of the world would die away, and consciousness slipped from her. Zoe Vasilios, knowing there was only one threat left in the room, dashed to Elrbetrt's side. She checks for a pulse.
Elrbetrt had none.
Goblin Holds - Antiqua Scientiam
As Aslo finishes setting up for the traps, he'd find Nyla Valerius laying in wait behind the dead golem. She has given orders to everyone else to wait inside, by the doors, so they could ambush enemies coming inside. She, too, was waiting and listening for trouble, and in her hands was her trusty gladius and shield: The shield that was able to withstand explosive power outright. It seemed she would try to buy time and keep the enemy outside as long as possible, to keep the rest of her force in reserve. It didn't take long to arrive. Aslo would be able to see just over the edge of the rooftop safely: Twenty imps, all unarmed, were being led a few feet ahead of a smaller but far more threatening force.
Eight demonic humanoids were arranged in two lines, each protecting the flank of a Demon Agent. Each of these humanoids were hunched over and narrow as though suffering from famine, and yet he got the distinct impression that their strength was deceptive as one was busily ripping and tearing through the bones and veins of a dead imp with ease. They were covered in bone-plate armour, and had long claw-like hands that looked quite able to rip through most light armour with ease. They sniffed the air, and it was clear that they could tell something was nearby: But not precisely where it was.
In the midst of this convoy, protected between the two lines, Aslo was able to determine it was an Agent of Gluttony. She looked to be stitched together from about a dozen different people, the ethnicity and gender of which varied wildly. There may have even been one or two non-humans used to sew the cretin together. In any event, its terribly mishapen form was the size of a dire bear, and it had a hungering look in its eyes that all the other demons made very well sure not to peer into, giving Aslo the distinct feeling that it had some kind of control or fear power with its eyes alone at close range. It wasn't coated in armour like its bodyguards was, but the occasional twitch with its veins--which moved underneath its skin like snakes--implied that close combat with it was a terrible plan. Occasional droplets of blood rolled from the seams keeping it together, implying there was a lot of forces underneath that were putting pressure on its makeshfit skin...
Nonetheless, the caltrops in the dimly lit areas did thin down the numbers of the imps down about twelve before they got to be a few feet away from the fallen golem. Nyla looks up at Aslo, still concealed: She would wait for his move, then likely attempt to cover his retreat back inside. There was unfortunately no sign of the mortar, meaning that the second agent likely was staying back with it, ready to strike at the first sign of trouble. The one piece of good news is that shrapnel doesn't discriminate in who it kills...
Meanwhile, a minute prior to all of this, Unamo's child-like spirit returned. It informed them quickly about the incoming force: The eight bodyguards, the Agent of Gluttony, and the imps. Everyone inside knew what was coming and could plan for it, if they had time. Unamo took advantage and dismissed the spirit, looking to Esyllt and Child.
"We have to keep Maeven safe until she can figure out the device. I will set up a glyph of power at the entrance. Esyllt, you should position your golem a few feet from the door, but close enough that it can charge anything that breaks through. Child..." She runs a finger underneath Child's chin, then up to her mask, resting a hand on Child's cheek over-top of her mask.
"Use your spirits: Wield one, and see how many you can bring to me... I promise, when I'm done, you won't be bothered by them for a short time." With that said, she steps over to the entrance and pulls out her alchemical ingredients, readying a glyph at the entrance.
"Esyllt, you know necromancy, yes? If so, I would like it if you could rot this and infuse it with some of that energy." She holds out a small, green root in her hand, then places it on the ground in the center of her glyph.
"That'll give this a little bit of extra oomph..."
Kingdom of Tuleria - Unto the Breach
Yuri's attempt to keep the vampire from biting her with her fist was a momentary success, as the vampire couldn't pierce her metal gauntlet with her fangs, but the vampire merely resorted to wrapping both of her hands around Yuri's throat, squeezing tightly to prevent her from breathing--something the vampire didn't need to do. Before she can finish choking the life out of Yuri, however, Arkos grabs the vampire from behind and pulls her off of Yuri. Holding her still, Aeyr is easily able to repeatedly stab the vampire in the chest until she manages to hit the heart, ending the vampire's life unceremoniously.
Meanwhile, Otto and Toorg surrounded the last scorpion, with Otto keeping its attention on him. With one of the scorpion's pincers down and its tail gone, it was essentially defenseless to Toorg's flanking attack, which knocked the scorpion on its back. Once more, Toorg and Otto take turns beating the vulnerable underside of the scorpion into a meaty, bloody pulp, sending black blood spraying everywhere until Otto was panting: The fight was over, they had beaten the patrol. Otto looks back to the buccaneers, and grins. They had not only won, but they had won with mimimal casualties. Not one of the three Buccaneer mages had died, giving them several options to close the portal with.
Quar was back on his feet, though still wincing with his movements as he continued to heal himself from his near-stroke with death.
"REGROUP EVERYONE!" He motions to the bottom of the sand dune.
"LET'S REGROUP AND MOVE OUT TOGETHER!" Otto rolls his eyes and looks up at Toorg.
"Get your arm back first, then regroup with us in the middle. Good job, tree-man."
