Luer gave a small, thankful nod to Brigid, hearing her compliment. Though his smile was somewhat bittersweet. "Never aim to start a war… it is the innocent who suffer for it. Women… children…" He muttered, shaking his head. He knew, he had seen it first hand. He never wanted to see such a thing again.
He turned focus back to the Jarl at Dusk's question, taking a breath. So they had nothing to go on then. He glanced to the Doctor until that sound came, prompting him to grab his quiver and bow and stand now. That was unsettling.
It was not any better as a guard came rushing in, warning them of an attack. Strangers? Oh no. More of them? He certainly did not recognize the mentioned powers being used though, so it must not be the same group Doom was with. But then who…?
He gasped, seeing the guard stabbed. He took a few steps to go help the poor man but he was stopped short of going any further when he was suddenly beheaded. "N-No!!" He called out reflexively, before growling and getting an arrow nocked. He wanted to go after them, but when they demanded to see the Jarl he moved once again, standing in between the Jarl and the intruder. Dammit! He could have saved the guard. But there was no way he was letting the man get to the Jarl. "You will step no closer."
Brigid Mahoney
The General is glad her compliment is taken well. She's noted that Luer's mood has improved since their reconciliation, and even more since she's started seeing him and Ryan together fairly often. Brigid has seen on Luer a familiar smile as well; a smile last seen on her Nate what feels like a lifetime ago. With everyone behaving and the Jarl's order, Brigid is glad when things are progressing better. That leader of the guard might continue to be a problem.
But it was just their luck it seems that it all goes South. Brigid shoulders Liberty when there is a loud sound above them, and does not flinch when a guard is first stabbed, then beheaded after he tells them about what is going on elsewhere.
An attack on two fronts, this hall being one.
Brigid does not waste time with words. She takes aim at the leader through the scope of Liberty and fires, and keeps track of his movements; going for headshots, torso, legs, any part of him that looks open for even a second.
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Dusk
~=========~-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~=========~
Dusk didn't expect much help from the jarl to be honest, he instinctively just wanted to leave a good impression on the leader. For the moment it sounded like there wasn't going to be much action, but that thought was instantly proved false by the sound of a loud impact on the roof of the keep. This sound was then followed by the sounds of a large thunderstorm. A strong rain was meshed together with thunder, almost masking the loud arrival of a guard at the keep's entrance.
The guard seemed almost hysterical, shouting of an attack on the city by powerful forces. The guard didn't have much time to explain though, having instantly been cut down by a man in gilded armor. Luer and Brigid both readied their ranged weapons immediately. Brigid was the first to fire, shooting a blazing crackle of energy at the enemy. A good distraction and opening for Dusk to run in and attack.
Dusk unsheathed the black blade on his hip. This was actually the first opponent to see the new blade he realized, and the first time he had used it in his new form against a true enemy. Its surface resembled ebony, and shined in the torchlight in the keep as Dusk charged at the armored man. Dusk's stance was wide and low, and coupled with his speed while he advanced it made it look like he was running on all fours. Any cultists that would attempt to get in his way would get slammed to the side. When he made it up to the man in armor, the sword's blade was faced downward. Dusk then did an upward slash with the blade, resembling an uppercut, up the man's chest. If the man was able to block the sword, he would need to contend with Dusk's strength or otherwise be pushed back.
Lautrec looked at Luer for a moment, before taking a step forward. "Like this?" He asked, a smug smile hiding under his helmet. As soon as Brigid started firing, the strange knight quickly strategized between her and the approaching Ryan. An uncoordinated attack. In a moment's notice, he rolled to the side with quick speed, dodging the first few shots from her rifle, and intentionally in the directly Ryan was, as when he just managed to duck Ryan's horizontal slashes, the moment he landed, Brigid's laser-fire would greet him. He then ran up the stairs from the side, moving so fast, he was still able to outrun her gunfire; jumping up onto the long dining table. When Dusk was about to attack, his sword would ram through the table, splitting it in half, with splinters of the wood being cut flying upwards. Yet, he would manage to roll out of the way just in time, dashing forward back onto the ground.
Like that, he was already moving past the group from around the sides, using the massive pillars along the sides of the room as cover to hide against more of Brigid's firepower and anyone else attempting to shoot him. Another guard quickly ran up, with Irileth charging towards him with two more beside her. As that guard tried slashing across Lautrec's chest, the knight knelt down, wrapped one of his blades around his ankle, and swiftly cut through it; knocking the poor man's balance off and falling to the ground, shouting in pain as his foot began to bleed out. The knight then jumped over the side railing, only a few feet away from the Jarl himself.
Still in front, the other cultists waited for Dusk's attack before they struck back, and once the humanoid made his first strike, two shot lightning out of their hands towards him. If it didn't hurt him, it would at least slow him down so the others could charge in and slip their blades into his throat. Others rallied to Ryan, pulling out their blades and charging forward to strike at him. More then charged forward, casting Ward spells to block Brigid's laser shots. They were magical shields, used for protecting against magic. Since her arms used light to attack, they simply disintegrated once they hit. It protected their fronts, but not their sides, and only several were using it, while those behind them casted fireballs and flames their way. The fireballs would explode into a magnificent eruption, setting fire to the floor rugs and the other table; the flames also crawling up the pillars to burn the wooden walls of this great building. Today, Whiterun would be ashes, all to grab just one man.
Crossbreed Priscilla
Well wasn't this a predicament she now found herself in. Other people approached with apparently malicious intent, the aggressors all suddenly attacking the group she found herself a part of. Unsure of what to do, and ever a follower of letting the world do its thing, those watching would see the giant woman suddenly disappear into thin air.
Cloaking herself, she separated herself to what she deemed a safe distance, to watch and learn of this place by its outcome. She had no reason to fight, they hadn't attacked her, and the people she'd met while friendly, certainly hadn't gained her trust. She could risk her life for them, or she could explore and perhaps learn more of her predicament outside of what they'd told her.
She hoped they wouldn't blame her, all she knew what was best for herself, and that was to stay away from everyone and everything from what she'd been told since she'd been young, though she did hope they would win.
An explosion in the distance would shake the ground Priscilla stood on, with its orange glow just reaching over the rooftops of the buildings. The battle was getting more intense, with lightning striking the ground and the clouds growing black like a hurricane was beginning to form. The city was involved in a sudden war.
As that happened, however, something lurked in the bushes. Slowly crawling through the brush and leaves, and stalking her like she was prey. Slowly it moved, eyeing her every move, waiting for the moment to strike. She wouldn't be prepared for it. No one was.
No one was ever ready to face off against.
However,
Before it could pounce upon her like a cat would to a mouse, it..... unfortunately fell over, not realizing the bush it was in was atop a big rock, and just as it tried to pounce, it slipped off and fell directly on its head; struggling to try and right itself............... THE WERE-CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB!!!!
Ysmir Stormcrown
Whiterun Plains District
The incoming rocks were intercepted by a large shape, an Ice Atronarch summoned by Ysmir to shield him from the barrage. With it's purpose fulfilled, the golem returned to whatever Plain of Oblivion it had come from.
Perhaps it shouldn't have surprised him, with how the world seemed to have twisted into a mockery of his own, that the creatures of Apocrypha would be used against him despite his status as Mora's Champion.
But it didn't matter in the long run. While mighty, the Lurkers of the Woodland Man were no match to a Dremora Lord, especially of the Valkynaz caste.
Ysmir's four summons made short work of the approaching Cultists, using their incredible strength to hack and slash through the crowd as the blood of Man and Mer pooled on the ground, mixing with the rainwater. The Dragonborn ignored them, focusing on the encroaching Daedra as a spell lit up in his hands - Concentrating it into a single point captured between his palms, he released the charged magic, striking a Lurker in the chest, making it buckle and return into Oblivion before it leapt to another target, and then again. Successfully nearly halving the Cultists' beastial support.
Turning his gaze on his largest, although not necessarily his most dangerous foe, Ysmir prepared himself once again to twist reality to his will, feeling the Words on his tongue as he finally shouted.
"RII-VAAZ-ZOL!"
It tore through the Daedric giant, taking whatever counted as it's soul and ripping it from it's body as it was captured in one of Ysmir's soul gems.
With it's essence stuck on Nirn, the body had nowhere to go, falling limp on the ground like a dead fish, accidentally crushing two Squid-Masked worshippers - Though that wasn't the end of it.
Twitching and groaning, fueled by Dark Magic, the giant Lurker returned to it's feet, now firmly under the control of the Last Dragonborn, who sent it against it's former allies.
@Wade Von Doom @Amber Franklin @Birdsie
It was that last shout that finally gained the attention of an outside force. Before, it had heard them in the distance, drawing its attention. And when it heard another shout, it knew it was him. The Dragonborn was here. And Ysmir was attracting the attention of the creatures he had fought so hard to attain his powers. In the sky, he could hear the familiar roar of a creature he had hunted for years, and when looking up, the lightning would illuminate the shadow of such a beast. A dragon.
It rushed down under the clouds, flying overhead of the whole town, as it sprayed fired from its mouth across the whole town. Those unprotected, or didn't dodge in time, would be skewered alive, both cultist, and citizen. The town glowed orange and yellow, as the fires blazed across the buildings, burning everything away. yet the black waters produced more Lurkers to join the battle, even as the cultist numbers dwindled down. To aid with the attack, the cultists summoned to their side Flame Atronachs; two for each remaining cultist left, like a Hydra spewing two more heads. The waters needed to be purified or removed somehow, or else the lurkers would keep coming, and the cultists were now only a dozen in numbers within the city itself.
