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Shadows of the Setting Sun (Main)

OOC
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Characters
Here
Afureru, standing across the field, can see ghostly shapes wheeling toward her and her men. The shapes brake from a copse of dead, twisted trees. As they get closer, it’s easier for Afureru to make out the details.

Under ancient, decayed armor and barding, the outline of spectral warriors ride spectral horses. A full patrol compliment. Twenty strong. They charge in utter silence.

[The enemy is at long range. Battle Group join battle 5]

Ghostly Battle Group
Size:
2; Drill: Elite; Might: 2

+2 Command rolls

Magnitude: 9/9

Essence: 1; Willpower: 4; Join Battle: 4 dice

Combat
Attack (Bite): 8 dice (Damage 19)
Attack (Claw): 12 dice (Damage 15)
Attack (Spear): 17 dice (Damage 19)
Combat Movement: 5 dice
Defense 7
Soak/Hardness: 10/1


Imagine, if you will, in the lush land of your home country, you see in the distance a figure while on patrol. Its shape suggests it to be human, but everything about it says to you its a monster. Radiating a black malevolent aura that sucks the life from the ground and rips at what it touches mercilessly.

You are no weaklings... you have some of your towns best best men at your back, and by no means are you all weak. But as its eyes fall in you, you come to realize it sees you as nothing but insects. In one hand it wields an instrument of death, and in the other, it carries one of your lands mighty heroes... already conquered. It intends to do the same to you.



This... is not all uncommon to those in Creation. If you searched, you could find many with similar tales. Where you feel hope and light are about to be snuffed out by an unnatural being who does not belong here.

Be it on Afureru to bring this very feeling to the habitats of the shadowlands. That she intends to make these monsters that plague creation feel the same fear they inflicted on the Sun's people.


With her army back a fair but manageable distance, she stood alone. Open. Waiting. They were ghosts... how thrilling! Maybe they would kill her. Also thrilling. She spread out the arm that held her halberd as if welcoming them. The golden aura that surrounded her like a beacon to make it all the more obvious she was alone.

Alone save for the body on her shoulder. "Well, Embrace of the Blackened Soul. You have friends coming. I'm curious to see what end of Salvation tempts you the most. To go back into the empty darkness... or come to the light where your heart aches to be. This is your best chance to flee should you wish it. If you changed your mind. If you wish to cut me down, this too is your best chance. Surely I can not take you and the phantom horseman on at the same time."

Afurery gave a maliciously hungry laugh. "But then... we would not learn anything more about Hope's End, would we?"

She was ready.


Join Battle. Three motes excelleny.

10 die.


8 Initiative
 
The abomination’s attack slams into Tyree’s arms, raised in defense. The Lunar weathers the strike like a true Full Moon, but the ground gives way under her with the impact and she drops down a foot.

[After soak, minimum damage roll: 2 initiative damage.]

Makuro, you're up.
jaydude jaydude

Round 5 Initiative
8 Monstrous Abomination
5 Makuro (short range)
1 Tyree

Flesh abomination:
Defense: 4
Soak/Hardness: 22/10

Attack: 18 dice (damage 18, minimum 5)

Health levels
[_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
-0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 Inc.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Afureru prepares herself. Across the battle field, her quarry charges.


Afureru, you’re up first.
D. Rex D. Rex

Round 1 Initiative:
8 Afureru

5 Ghost Battle Group [long range]

Ghostly Battle Group
Size:
2; Drill: Elite; Might: 2

+2 Command rolls

Magnitude: 9/9

Essence: 1; Willpower: 4; Join Battle: 4 dice

Combat
Attack (Bite): 8 dice (Damage 19)
Attack (Claw): 12 dice (Damage 15)
Attack (Spear): 17 dice (Damage 19)
Combat Movement: 5 dice
Defense 7
Soak/Hardness: 10/1


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sigrdrifa smashes the cellar door and tosses a torch down in to the depths. It lands at the bottom of the steps ten yards down. The smell from below is one of ancient rot and slow decay. The floor and stairs are simple hewn stone. Whispers seem to pass over a sudden wind. Whispers of thousands of tortured souls.
 
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If it was physically possible for a spider to grimace, Makuro would have done so when he saw that Tyree, for whatever reason, was planning to stay and fight. Still, he didn't want to see one of Luna's champions lost to Creation.

As the abomination struck at the Full Moon, Makuro scuttled forward, hoping to try and hide on the monstrosity itself. From there, he'd move into a position from which he could strike this foe more effectively. With its size, the abomination would hopefully fail to notice a mere spider crawling on it.

[Attempting to re-establish surprise, rolling Dexterity + Stealth and claiming a one-point stunt. Since Makuro's currently in spider form, anyone who makes an Awareness-based roll to try and notice him will lose two successes from the roll.]

Essence: 1
Personal Essence: 16/16
Peripheral Essence: 29/38

Committed Essence: 9 (Hundred Rings + Shapeshifting)

Willpower: 6
Join Battle: 7
Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -2, -2, -2, -2, -4, -4, -4, Inc.
Resolve 4, Guile 4

Actions
Rush: 7 dice
Disengage: 10 dice

Evasion 7 (5 + 2 from Tiny Creature), Parry 6
Soak/Hardness: 6/0 (Buff Jacket, +3 Soak)
 
Sigrdrífa gives the ghost who led them here a sharp look, "If these are your remains, and you are up here, then what is down there?"
 
Quickly scuttling up the abomination's leg, Makuro would then leap across to its right arm and move towards the horned reptilian skull at what appeared to be the creature's elbow. Once there, he shifted back into his human form and grabbed onto one of the horns there with his left hand, while summoning the Hundred Rings into his right hand. Once the chain was at its full size, he lashed up with it, aiming for the abomination's head.

[Okay, seeing as I've apparently already re-established surprise, I'm going to have Makuro shift back into human form, spend 1m Peripheral Essence to use Serpent Ornament Embrace, and attempt a Withering Attack against the abomination. Since it's a surprise attack, the abomination takes a -2 penalty to Defense. 13 Base dice for a Withering Attack, claiming one-point stunt.

Seven successes.]

Essence: 1
Personal Essence: 16/16
Peripheral Essence: 32/38

Committed Essence: 5 (Hundred Rings)

Willpower: 6
Join Battle: 7
Health Levels:
-0: [_]
-1: [_], [_]
-2: [_], [_], [_], [_], [_], [_]
-4: [_], [_], [_]
Resolve 4, Guile 4

Attacks
Hundred Rings (13 Withering, 10 Decisive, 14 Damage, Overwhelming 4)
Unarmed (14 Withering, 10 Decisive, 9 Damage, Overwhelming 1)

Actions
Rush: 7 dice
Disengage: 10 dice

Evasion 5, Parry 6
Soak/Hardness: 6/0 (Buff Jacket, +3 Soak)
 
Though she is deeply unsettled by the imminent threat of the massive undead army threatening her home, and the ancient victims of dragon-blooded persecution, Zoya steels herself and follows Sigrdrifa into the tomb. As they decend into the dark, she takes the linnen-wrapped sword from her back to be better prepared should violence be called for.
Sigrdrífa gives the ghost who led them here a sharp look, "If these are your remains, and you are up here, then what is down there?"
The ghost looks to Sigrdrífa, then to Zoya and Toun. Hundreds of ghosts fill in the area around and behind him.

"We are those who are whole enough to keep our wits. We make up only a small bit of those executed here." The ghost looks down into the depths below. "The rest are down there. We will follow. You must destroy what is down there and it will free us all."

Rykon Rykon
 
"Fine, but cross me and I will make you wish this Achiba had you," she grumbles as she descends into the dark to seek this - Spirits willing finite - horde of hungry ghosts.
 
Quickly scuttling up the abomination's leg, Makuro would then leap across to its right arm and move towards the horned reptilian skull at what appeared to be the creature's elbow. Once there, he shifted back into his human form and grabbed onto one of the horns there with his left hand, while summoning the Hundred Rings into his right hand. Once the chain was at its full size, he lashed up with it, aiming for the abomination's head.

[Okay, seeing as I've apparently already re-established surprise, I'm going to have Makuro shift back into human form, spend 1m Peripheral Essence to use Serpent Ornament Embrace, and attempt a Withering Attack against the abomination. Since it's a surprise attack, the abomination takes a -2 penalty to Defense. 13 Base dice for a Withering Attack, claiming one-point stunt.

Seven successes.]

Essence: 1
Personal Essence: 16/16
Peripheral Essence: 32/38

Committed Essence: 5 (Hundred Rings)

Willpower: 6
Join Battle: 7
Health Levels:
-0: [_]
-1: [_], [_]
-2: [_], [_], [_], [_], [_], [_]
-4: [_], [_], [_]
Resolve 4, Guile 4

Attacks
Hundred Rings (13 Withering, 10 Decisive, 14 Damage, Overwhelming 4)
Unarmed (14 Withering, 10 Decisive, 9 Damage, Overwhelming 1)

Actions
Rush: 7 dice
Disengage: 10 dice

Evasion 5, Parry 6
Soak/Hardness: 6/0 (Buff Jacket, +3 Soak)
At the top of the abomination, Makuro shifts to human form. As he hangs from the monster's horn, bits of its flesh shift into undulating faces. The muscle and skin surrounding them expands, as if reaching for Makuro's new flesh.

It hungers.

In the same instant Makuro readies his weapon, he feels the flow of Essence through the abomination. As he strikes, the flesh around the monster's head reacts and attempts to block the incoming threat. It does not succeed, but. manages to stave off most the blow.

[Defense becomes 5. You still have 2 threshold successes. Soak/Hardness: 22/10]

Round 5 Initiative
8 Monstrous Abomination
5 Makuro
3 Tyree

Flesh abomination:
Defense: 4
Soak/Hardness: 22/10

Attack: 18 dice (damage 18, minimum 5)

Health levels
[_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
-0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 Inc.
 
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[Rolling damage, while other people are around. I assume I get four dice from Overwhelming once the abomination's soak is taken into account. One success.]
 
[Rolling damage, while other people are around. I assume I get four dice from Overwhelming once the abomination's soak is taken into account. One success.]
Makuro’s chain lashes across the flesh of the monstrosity he’s now hanging from. The strike penetrates the defensive build-up of flesh around the creature’s head, but does little more than bloodies the surface.

[Tyree, you’re up.]
Sherwood Sherwood

Round 5 Initiative
7 Monstrous Abomination
7 Makuro

1 Tyree

Flesh abomination:
Defense: 4
Soak/Hardness: 22/10

Attack: 18 dice (damage 18, minimum 5)

Health levels
[_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
-0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 Inc.
 
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Now optimized for the upcoming fight, Tyree has a savage grin on her face as she steps forward to get within striking distance of the monstrosity. This is what she lived for; facing off against foes that would unnerve a weaker being with steel in her own spine and a snarl on her lips.
Spending 2m on Divine Predator Strike and 5m on my Strength Excellency

6 successes to hit. With is DV of 4, I'll go ahead and roll damage.

Health Levels
-0 [ ] (+[ ] Only in DBT Form)
-1 [ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] - [ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] - [ ][ ]
I [ ]

Essence: 1
Personal: 16 / 0
Peripheral: 38 / 24 / 11
Committed: 14
Willpower: 7 / 5

Parry DV: 6
Dodge DV: 3
Resolve: 4
Guile: 1

Join Battle: 8 + 3i - +5i from Sinuous Striking Grace (3m)

Soak: 5
Armor: +11
Shapeshifted: +5 from Unusual Skin, +5 from DBT
Total Soak: 16 human / 26 DBT
Armor Hardness: 10

Weapons
Zelator
Type: Heavy (+1 ACC, +14 DMG, +0 DEF, OVW 5)
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Piercing, Reaching;
Two-Handed when on foot
The spear makes baneful attacks against sorcerers, sorcerous constructs, sorcerously transformed opponents, and summoned spirits. Its decisive attacks against such foes add one bonus die to the damage roll and deal aggravated damage. If the target is a sorcerer who has gathered sorcerous motes, three of the gathered motes are dispersed and lost.
 
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Tyree strikes hard, rocking the creature backward. Quicker than seems logical, the monstrosity brings its arm up and takes the brunt of the force in its hardened flesh. Regardless, Tyree has put the abomination on its back-foot.

Round 6

[Tyree, Makuro, you’re both up.]
Sherwood Sherwood jaydude jaydude

Round 6 Initiative
7 Tyree
7 Makuro

2 Monstrous Abomination

Flesh abomination:
Defense: 4
Soak/Hardness: 22/10

Attack: 18 dice (damage 18, minimum 5)

Health levels
[_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
-0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 Inc.
 
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"Fine, but cross me and I will make you wish this Achiba had you," she grumbles as she descends into the dark to seek this - Spirits willing finite - horde of hungry ghosts.
Sigrdrífa, Zoya, and Toun descend into the depths. The air grows colder with each step down and the stench of decay is almost palpable. The torchlight flickers off rough-hewn walls of earth and stone. The stairs continue down for twenty feet. At the bottom of the stairs, a long corridor extends into the darkness. The hallway is cramped and low, but functional.

Ahead, the sounds of babbling, screaming, and angry voices grows louder.

Following the passage to its end, the three Exalts find it opens into a large room. As they step in, the torchlight dances against various shapes and surfaces. When their vision adjusts, they find a room of horrors.

The back right corner draws the eye first as in it towers a mound almost to the 10-foot high ceiling of remains and skeletons. Against the right wall, several wooden workbenches stained brown with ancient blood rot and decay. On the opposite left wall, rusted tools, utensils, and moldy storage containers have been hung with care.

It’s clear by the contents and layout this was a torture and dissection chamber.

And it’s filled with specters, each a reflection of their ruined state at the end of their pitiful lives. Each reliving their last moments, trapped in a perpetual loop. They fill the chamber, wall-to-wall.

One ghost, on his knees, has his head chopped off in a gruesome spray of gore. He then resets, and it happens again. And again. Another specter is stabbed over and over again, even after her body has gone limp. Yet another is opened from navel to nostril and kicked to ground. On the workbenches, all manner of overlapping torture takes place over and over.

The laborer who had lead the trio here steps into the room behind the Exalts.

“Do you see?” he says. “This is merely one such place here in these lands. This is but a fraction of the horror that has been committed here. You. You can free us all.”

Esbilon Esbilon Rykon Rykon
 
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Tyree can feel her blood boiling inside her every time she looks at this undead thing before her. A weapon of war, created for the sole purpose of killing. To be honest, not all that different from her, if you wish to be really technical about it. But her purpose is greater, to defend Creation against such things as this.

She will prevail.

With a powerful double-handed swing, Tyree tries to drive the thing back even farther, setting it up for a finishing blow.
Adding another 5m to my Strength again for another Withering Attack

7 successes to hit its DV of 4. Only 3i damage to it, for a gain of 4i for Tyree since I am guessing it is large enough that I can't Initiative Crash it.

Health Levels
-0 [ ] (+[ ] Only in DBT Form)
-1 [ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] - [ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] - [ ][ ]
I [ ]

Essence: 1
Personal: 16 / 0
Peripheral: 38 / 24 / 11
Committed: 14
Willpower: 7 / 5

Parry DV: 6
Dodge DV: 3
Resolve: 4
Guile: 1

Join Battle: 8 + 3i - +5i from Sinuous Striking Grace (3m)

Soak: 5
Armor: +11
Shapeshifted: +5 from Unusual Skin, +5 from DBT
Total Soak: 16 human / 26 DBT
Armor Hardness: 10

Weapons
Zelator
Type: Heavy (+1 ACC, +14 DMG, +0 DEF, OVW 5)
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Piercing, Reaching;
Two-Handed when on foot
The spear makes baneful attacks against sorcerers, sorcerous constructs, sorcerously transformed opponents, and summoned spirits. Its decisive attacks against such foes add one bonus die to the damage roll and deal aggravated damage. If the target is a sorcerer who has gathered sorcerous motes, three of the gathered motes are dispersed and lost.
 
Seeing and feeling the flesh of the abomination react to his presence, Makuro decided not to stay clinging on to his current spot. Pulling forward with the hand not holding the Hundred Rings, and simultaneously pushing forward with both legs, he flung himself upwards and to the abomination's left, calling upon his Essence and lashing out at its face with the Hundred Rings as he reached the apex of his jump.

[Withering Attack, claiming one point stunt and spending 5m Personal Essence on Makuro's Dex Excellency to give him 20 attack dice. 13 Successes.]

Essence: 1
Personal Essence: 11/16
Peripheral Essence: 33/38

Committed Essence: 5 (Hundred Rings)

Willpower: 6
Join Battle: 7
Health Levels:
-0: [_]
-1: [_], [_]
-2: [_], [_], [_], [_], [_], [_]
-4: [_], [_], [_]
Resolve 4, Guile 4

Attacks
Hundred Rings (13 Withering, 10 Decisive, 14 Damage, Overwhelming 4)
Unarmed (14 Withering, 10 Decisive, 9 Damage, Overwhelming 1)

Actions
Rush: 7 dice
Disengage: 10 dice

Evasion 5, Parry 6
Soak/Hardness: 6/0 (Buff Jacket, +3 Soak)
 
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"How?" Zoya asks as her eyes go wide at the horror before them. "How can we end this?"
"You are Chosen made from Celestial cloth," the spirit says in response. "One of you must know burial rites." He begins walking, but as before, his ghostly feet are not touching the ground. And they seem out of sync with the speed of his movement. He glides to the pile of remains.

"Given proper burial rites or send-off—or even a pyre—to these remains will free us all from these shackles."

It's at this point that Zoya and Sigrdrifa both notice several runes and writings on the walls, tables, and on jars on the shelves. Before, there was too much stimulation in this room to focus on such details, but now they are easy to pick out.

[Zoya and Sigrdrifa can roll Intelligence+Occult, difficulty 4 to put together what the runes are related to.]
Random Word Random Word Rykon Rykon
 
Rolling damage. Using Overwhelming of 4. Three successes.
 
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Tyree and Makuro strike simultaneously. Tyree swings her spear in a mighty arc of destruction. She takes a chunk of the abominations flesh as her weapon rips through muscle and sinew. It doesn't seem to bother the creature as the the flesh begins to knit back together.

Makuro arcs through the air and strikes with his chain of moonsilver. Again, it tears through flesh, but the wound is superficial.

The creature roars and vaults the ledge of the rift in the ground it was raised from. It stands over 40 feet tall. Then, it explodes with a black aura of dark Essence and suddenly its fist rushes with impossible speed toward Tyree.

[Withering attack, spending Essence. 11 successes to hit. Tyree, declare defense.]
Sherwood Sherwood


Round 6 Initiative
7 Tyree
7 Makuro

1 Monstrous Abomination

Round 7 Initiative
11 Tyree
11 Makuro
1 Monstrous Abomination

Flesh abomination:
Defense: 4
Soak/Hardness: 22/10

Attack: 18 dice (damage 18, minimum 5)

Health levels
[_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
-0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 Inc.
 
"I know some burial rites," Zoya agrees as she takes in the fullness of the horror before her, "and though they have changed much in the centuries since these people were killed, I may consign them to the mercy of the Sun as well."

Seeing so much of the room covered in runes is puzzling to Zoya, normally runecraft is either merely a form of writing, or reserved for things of special import. This seems like neither.

OOC: Assuming a rank 1 stunt, this gives me int 4 + occ 5 + stunt 2 = 11 dice. 4 successes.
 
With her strength being boosted so high from the power of her Essence, it lets Tyree stand her ground in front of the monstrosity as its huge fist comes crashing down on top of her. Her arms and legs struggle to keep her footing under the sheer power of the blow, but the Full Moon Lunar does not yield.
Raising my Str by 5 to increase my Parry DV to 11, and with the stunt, that should give me the needed 12 to completely block the attack.

Health Levels
-0 [ ] (+[ ] Only in DBT Form)
-1 [ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] - [ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] - [ ][ ]
I [ ]

Essence: 1
Personal: 16 / 0
Peripheral: 38 / 24 / 11
Committed: 14
Willpower: 7 / 5

Parry DV: 6
Dodge DV: 3
Resolve: 4
Guile: 1

Join Battle: 8 + 3i - +5i from Sinuous Striking Grace (3m)

Soak: 5
Armor: +11
Shapeshifted: +5 from Unusual Skin, +5 from DBT
Total Soak: 16 human / 26 DBT
Armor Hardness: 10

Weapons
Zelator
Type: Heavy (+1 ACC, +14 DMG, +0 DEF, OVW 5)
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Piercing, Reaching;
Two-Handed when on foot
The spear makes baneful attacks against sorcerers, sorcerous constructs, sorcerously transformed opponents, and summoned spirits. Its decisive attacks against such foes add one bonus die to the damage roll and deal aggravated damage. If the target is a sorcerer who has gathered sorcerous motes, three of the gathered motes are dispersed and lost.
 
Sigrdrífa looks over the scene with obvious discomfort. Death is one thing, the ancestors another, but this is unnatural. Wrong. She will be glad to see it reduced to ashes. She ascends back to the surface, tears a nearby tree from the earth, wraps it in sinew, and dashes it against the ground, shattering it into perfectly cut cords bound in neat bundles tied together in a long train. She grabs one end and drags it casually down into the depths to deposit it in the chamber full of tortured spirits. She casts an uncertain glance at Zoya, then looks away quickly. "We burn it all," she declares, her paper thin veneer of confidence and certainty belying the question without overtly deferring to Zoya's superior wisdom and the accompanying loss of face.
 
Zoya sees by the runes covering the room that more is going on here than mere burial. This is experimentation. These runes are necromantic in nature, but on a deeper level than Zoya could ever be familiar with. A deeper knowledge or craft is required. Something not of Creation.

In addition, these runes look recent. They don’t match the rest of the room, especially the bones piled in the corner. Some are still active. Judging by their locations and placement, they are control points in the room to keep necromantic experiments in check. They would allow the necromancer to section off the room and keep subjects from interacting with each other or escaping. This room has been used far more recently than when these bones were piled here.

Esbilon Esbilon Random Word Random Word Rykon Rykon
 
In a moment of miraculous strength and precision, Tyree meets the massive fist with her spear and parries it. On the outside, the effort looks as simple as children play-fighting. But, Tyree feels the strain and pressure, despite her incredible strength.

The instant after, physics catches up and there is an explosion of air. The ground splinters underneath the Lunar. The monster in front of her roars with frustration.

Round 7

[Everyone regain 5 motes. Keep forgetting to remind you.]
[Tyree and Makuro, you’re up.]
Sherwood Sherwood jaydude jaydude


Round 7 Initiative
11 Tyree <====
11 Makuro <====
1 Monstrous Abomination

Flesh abomination:
Defense: 4
Soak/Hardness: 22/10

Attack: 18 dice (damage 18, minimum 5)

Health levels
[_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
-0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 Inc.
 

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